Lioness of the Snake
by RabidOrochimaruOtaku
Summary: New positions, problems, people, and outright insanity has arisen. Jobs, lives, and powers are on the line, with little chance to rest. Flashbacks are brought up, and so are different other things that some people would really prefer to keep hidden... STUCK ON ORDER OF THE PHOENIX! ON HIATUS UNTIL IDEAS ARISE!
1. Bridging Chasms

I do not own Harry Potter or anything wherein! I just own the OC's in this fic!

Anyhow, I got a request for another Snape romance fic, which seems to be a little popular with my readers, so... Here it is!

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**Summer 1998, July/August**

Severus Snape had hated the war, and had hated surviving it even more so than the war itself. As if he needed to keep living – hah! He'd been on his own his whole life, and that wasn't about to change now that the entire world knew he was a spy for Dumbledore. His mother and father had neglected and abused him, respectively, the Marauders had made his life a living hell in school and turned everyone but Professor Slughorn away from him, the Death Eaters were only his friends because they'd forced them into their ranks and were forced to respect each other by Voldemort, the members of the Order of the Phoenix still hated him for killing Dumbledore, and all of his students hated him for being the greasy git of the dungeons. None of those things was going to change anytime soon, and Potter was the only one who even remotely cared, and even then it was only because he'd saved the brat's life a lot.

He sat back, contemplating why Granger had insisted that he get the fair treatment that he did at St. Mungo's, and why Potter had used the memories in front of a bunch of aurors and members of the order to prove that he was a spy. Hell, he'd even revealed his treachery to Voldemort himself in front of thousands of other witches and wizards! Still, he'd thought that his Potions Master was dead, so he probably did it in his memory, and ended up receiving the shock of his life when he was told that Snape was alive.

"May I come in?" Snape heard, and looked to find said Potter in question peeking into his room.

Snape hated the child, but the child had at least repaid most of his life-debts by saving him from the various forms of torture that the ex-Potions Master could easily be under right now, as well as ensuring that the snake wound didn't go untreated. Snape scowled before nodding ever so slightly so as not to disturb his neck injury that had rendered him voiceless for a few months, and the teen walked in with a soft smile.

"Thanks," he said as he sat down. "I really couldn't have done it without you. I owe you so many life debts, but – it just doesn't feel right to let you suffer after all that you've done for me. I mean, yeah, you were a bit of a jerk – okay, okay, a _lot _of a jerk – but you had to do that to uphold the reputation in front of the kids of Death Eaters. Okay, so my dad also had some stuff to do with that, but still, I feel that you deserve the respect that you've earned."

"Get to the point," Snape wrote with his wand, and Harry nodded sheepishly.

"Well, as you know, the Wizengamot decided not to put you in Azkaban," he said beginning, "And I'm here to tell you that there will be no Dementors Kissing you and no fine. I had to bring in Dumbledore's portrait to explain everything to them, and I used Veritaserum on myself, but I managed to convince them that you were a spy the whole time. Professor McGonagall forced me to let her watch the memories, and she's willing to let you go back with open arms as either the Headmaster or the Potions Master, it's your choice."

"I saved your life at least a dozen times," Snape wrote, "And you're trying, in a roundabout way, to _thank _me? is this your way of trying to _somewhat repay_ those life-debts? What of Weasley and Granger, what are their views on the matter? And what of the other members of your precious little 'D.A.', what do they think of this? And the other students, what are their views? Did you consult _them _on the matter?"

"Okay, let's see," Harry said carefully. "Yes, I'm trying to thank you and try to repay you for all those times you've saved my hide – Merlin _knows _I made it _really _hard for you, now I know why you were always yelling and scolding me. Um, Ron is being stupid and stubborn and won't talk to me, but Hermione agrees with me on this and so do most of the other members of the D.A., and some of the other students from the other houses. Some, of course, are angry with you for what you've done, but I threw a fit at them and yelled about how you kept saving their lives this past school year even when they were too stupid to realize that that was what you were doing. I stormed off after throwing the tantrum, so I don't know how they reacted to it."

"Then why did you come here instead of to Molly Weasley?" Snape wrote trying to figure him out without Legilimency.

"Well, I kind of wanted to have a guy talk about this, and you were the first person who came to mind, what with you being the father-figure I'd needed in the background and behind my back," Harry admitted, and Snape glared at him. "Don't get me wrong, I'm not putting you on the same level as my dad! It's just – you're the closest thing I've got to one, what with Remus and Sirius gone now…"

"And Arthur?" Snape wrote, and Harry's eyes filled with tears.

"Burying Fred," he murmured sadly, and Snape blinked before grabbing a Kleenex from his nightstand and transfiguring it into a handkerchief and handing it to Harry. "Thanks."

Snape said nothing as Harry mourned for all of his fallen friends, and Snape sat in silence pondering all of the friends he had lost.

"Potter," he wrote, tapping him on the shoulder to get his attention. "I feel the need to bring this up now that you've done so. I-I feel that we should erect a memorial in honor of all those who died fighting the Dark Lord, both in the first and second wars."

"Everyone?" he asked, and Snape wrote a quick 'yes'. "Dumbledore and my parents will be at the top of the lists for their wars, I'm guessing. Remus and Tonks' kid is an orphan now, even though he made me the godfather."

"And you'll make a fine one, so long as he doesn't turn into another Marauder," Snape wrote, and Harry blinked confused.

"Was that a compliment, or an insult?" he asked, and Snape snorted.

"Some of both," he conceded, "Take it how you will. How many students died?"

"A lot," Harry murmured, "I counted at least three dozen, and that's not including the adults."

"Damn that bastard to hell, I hope Hades gives him what's coming and puts him in the deepest pits of Tartarus!" Snape wrote angrily, and Harry's brow furrowed. "Greek Mythology, brush up on it. Hades is the god of the underworld and over the dead. Tartarus was their version of the seven pits of hell."

"I hope he goes to the deepest pit with those who deserve the most punishments," Harry agreed before remembering something. "Oh, there was someone asking about you."

"Oh?" Snape wrote, "Who?"

"A Gryffindor," Harry admitted, "She was in the year before me. I think she said her name was Daisy."

Snape's blood froze in his veins as he remembered the student Harry was talking about and took a trip down memory lane.

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Yes, this fanfic will have a Gryffindor chit in it as the main character instead of a Slytherin. I admit, I'm actually a Slytherin House member on Pottermore, but I wrote this way before I knew that, and I already had her in Gryffindor. So, I kept her there.

Please Review!


	2. Melting the Iron

I still don't own Harry Potter or the characters, aside from the OC. Enjoy.

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**September - November 1990**

"Daisy Dare," Minerva McGonagall called out, and a tiny brunette stepped forwards.

She was head and shoulders shorter than most of her fellow first years, Snape noticed, and her hair was wavy and chocolate brown. She was shy, and the hat slid down to literally cover her entire head, which made most of the students laugh hysterically. He could feel the embarrassment rolling off of the girl in waves, and felt the shame and hurt that she was feeling. He knew immediately by the way she was sitting on the stool that one of her parents was either abusive or neglectful towards her, probably both of them at the same time.

It was a few seconds, and he decided to cast a Legilimens to see what the hat was thinking and saying.

**Not a bad mind, although I daresay that you have issues. Hm, you don't feel very smart, although you have a wonderful memory when you want to. Hm, you're cunning, like a Slytherin, and a half-blood, so that would work as well. In short, any of the houses would work for you.**

_But what about the heads of houses? What are they like? What if I don't belong here?_

**Nonsense, child! I sorted your mother into Gryffindor back when she was your age!**

_Momma? You mean, the one who had me? Not the one who brought her sons?_

**Ah, I see a case of an evil-stepmother and stepbrothers. Yes, Gryffindor will work quite well. It won't do to have a shy Slytherin terrified of her own head of house. Pomona will do you well, but Minerva would as well.**

_Which one's more protective?_

"Gryffindor!" the hat boomed, and her robes turned red. She went hesitantly and shyly to the Gryffindor table, and flinched at the contact she received, not that the others noticed it very much.

He sighed, making a mental note to keep an eye on that lioness cub just as the next name was called out.

It was the next day that he called her name out in Potions and she cringed as though she had been beaten. She said nothing, but took notes during his lecture – which he thought mistakenly that it was something else – and he again yelled at her. It was another first year lion who raised their hand and held out her notebook to him. He glared at the page to find her notes, and threw it down on the table angrily before giving the both of them detention. He knew it was unfounded, but it was best that they learned to fear him on the first day. That, and the Slytherins were in the same room and he had to uphold his reputation as a lion hater.

That night, he pointed at the cauldrons and handed them two rags. Daisy was silent, and cleaned her fair share of cauldrons faster than her male lion equivalent, who marveled at the speed and working skills the young lioness had. Snape saw immediately that the tiny girl had a fair set of muscles, muscles that could only have been built by hard work, and he began to wonder what her home life was like. As tempting as it was to use Veritaserum on her, it was illegal. He decided to instead play it safe and have them write an essay as well about how they were to treat him with as much respect as they would their families and to do a compare and contrast.

She never turned the essay in until the end of the year.

Still, Daisy Dare was a silent child, never once speaking. He never called on her, and she never raised her hand. It was as though she never existed until she went to turn in her potion for the day. To his astonishment, he often found her in the library reading Potions books on how to improve her potions. Over time, her Potions improved, and she gradually began to earn Outstanding in all her Potions making and essays. She was a child genius, he knew, and she was wonderful in charms, just as Lily had been. It was a sad sight to see that she was horrible in Transfiguration and Defense, and he brought this up to Pomona Sprout that her little lion cub never spoke and never made eye contact.

"Oh, honestly Severus, why would you worry about one of the lions?" Pomona had snapped, "You _hate _anyone who isn't in your house!"

"Yes, that may be true," he conceded, "However, lack of eye contact is one of the signs of an abusive or neglectful household. I'm just keeping an eye out so we don't end up with another version of me on our hands."

The staff room was silent at that, as he only brought up his past if he was truly concerned about the well-being of a student, and it was only when they were being abused that he did so outside of the Slytherin House.

"I will speak with her," Minerva promised, but nothing had happened in a month.

Come Halloween, Daisy was even more silent, making even less eye contact, and her grades were slipping dangerously in all her classes except Potions. She was talented, he saw, but it was a lack of self-confidence that was her problem with the wand. She was terrified, and had developed a stutter so bad that no other student spoke to her because they could no longer understand her through her speech impairment. He began pulling her aside and helping her try to overcome it, but each time he did the others would pick on her for getting into more trouble with "the oversized bat". He eventually gave up and handed it over to Minerva, who frowned and shook her head.

It was in November that he found Daisy in his office crying just after dinner one evening, her eyes were red and puffy, and she was hiccupping. No others were nearby, but she had a piece of parchment in her hand, held out as if she wanted him to read it, with a different object in her right hand. As it turned out, she did, as she let go of it the second his hand had touched it. His eyes narrowed as he read the letter, even though it was covered in splotches from her tears, and he realized that what he was reading could have either been a runaway or a suicide note.

"Miss Dare," he said calmly, "What happened?"

She shook her head, holding her arms across her chest as though trying to keep it together and in one piece. He fetched a calming draught and held it up to her lips for her to drink. She was silent as she did, and over the course of fifteen minutes, she gradually quieted enough for him to finally be able to hear himself think.

"Hurt," she whimpered.

"Where?" he asked immediately alert. "Why didn't you go to Madame Pomfrey?"

"In here," she stuttered, pointing to his chest.

"Ah, a wound of the heart," he said at last. "Those are the worst. They can only be healed by someone else. Unfortunately, I have seen many students, and yes, even a few Slytherins, have such a wound left untreated. It ended up destroying them."

"Did you?" he managed to make out through her stutter.

"Yes, I had one once," he admitted, "When I was a child, before I started Hogwarts. A dear friend of mine treated it, but it seemed to return with a vengeance when she was killed."

"Each other?" he could have sworn she asked, and he frowned.

"You're saying that you want us to treat each others' heart wounds?" he asked, and she remained motionless. "Miss Dare, I cannot help you if you do not tell me what's wrong."

"They laugh," she stuttered, "They laugh and mock me."

"Miss Dare, what I am going to tell you is so confidential that I must ensure that you know just how bad things would get if word of this got out," he said firmly, and she looked up fearfully. "Simply put, if word got out, I could lose my job, or eventually my life, because of forces outside of this school. Do you understand the severity of what I'm saying?"

She nodded, still silent, before he pulled up a chair and sat down in it. He flicked his wand at his door, warding it, and flicked it a few more dozen times to cast muffling charms upon it. With a heavy sigh through his nose, he began to tell her of his own house life, and leading up to his school life with his friend, even to the point of telling her what the Marauders did to him. He explained that he, too, knew the pain of an entire school ganged up against him, and reminded her that at least she had the teachers at her side, while he had only one, and even the one had been neglectful towards him a bit in preference to the friend he'd had.

He kept the names private and changed them, but of course, using the codenames the Marauders had used and never once mentioned the house of which they were in. It seemed simple enough, but as he told the small Gryffindor his tale, he felt some of the burden leave his chest and shoulders. What he didn't know at the time was that by telling her this, he was easing her burdens as well.

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Yes, Snape gets overprotective quickly because she's showing signs of abuse, which as most of you will know, he probably suffered at home. Therefore, he becomes protective and sort of father-like to those who he notices are being abused within the first week. Since Daisy's a girl in Gryffindor who's timid and terrified in the house of the fearless and brave, he puts two and two together rather quickly.

Please review! Let me know what you think and whether I should keep or drop this one!


	3. Snape Begins Plotting

I still don't own Harry Potter. Anyhow, Daisy is mine, and so is her familiar, if I ever manage to figure out which one I want to give her.

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**November 1990, that same night**

"Severus!" they heard Minerva McGonagall call through the fireplace at about ten-thirty. "We need your help! One of my lion cubs has been missing all afternoon! Nobody's seen her since Herbology just before lunch!"

"Miss Dare is in my office," he said calmly. "I'm not sure how long she was waiting for me to get there, but she seemed to need a listening ear, so I lent her one or two."

"Oh, Thank Merlin!" Minerva breathed with relief. "Thank Merlin you found her! Is she alright?"

"I believe it best that you and I have a discussion later, Minerva, your lion cub is still in my office," he said calmly, "And I will not discuss head of house matters in front of a student, not even in front of my most prized snakes, you know that."

"Of course," she sighed, "I'll let the others know you found her. Thank you, Severus."

She withdrew from the fire and Daisy looked up at the Head of Slytherin house that looked at the clock.

"Well, it is far past curfew," he said calmly. "As it was spent in my company, I will not punish you or your fellow lion cubs. However, I will be having a word with your head of house about how your fellow lion cubs are treating you."

"Thank you, sir," she stuttered, and he noticed that it was a little less of a stutter than it had been at the beginning of the night. "Sir-may I-may I come back tomorrow, please?"

"You will have me tomorrow for Potions," he said calmly. "I still have a reputation to uphold, however I believe that I have a way that we can keep up this pretense. A detention once a week will make a nice pretense, yes?"

"But-but no punishment, sir?" she asked, and he sneered.

"Well, if you count getting ahead of your classmates while we talk as a punishment, then yes," he said calmly, "Now come. There is a very upset lioness who I'm sure will have a lot of crap to give me if I don't bite her head off first."

"Thank you, sir," she stuttered quietly as she got up and followed him to the door. He summoned two rolls of parchment and tapped each one with his wand.

"If you ever need to speak with me after curfew, use this," he said giving her one. "What you write will come to my piece of parchment, and vice versa. I do not like watching a student suffer such cruelty as I had faced when I was a student, contrary to popular belief."

"Sir?" she asked quietly, and he looked down at her. "Can-is it okay if-if we're friends?"

"You would be the first true friend I've had since I was fifteen," he said quietly, "So yes, I'd like that. it felt nice to finally have someone to talk to as an equal who wasn't trying to control me or the like."

He managed to get her close to the Gryffindor common rooms and she stared at it.

"I don't want to go back," she admitted, "I know it's my house, but… they hate me…"

"Daisy!" they heard, and turned to find Professor McGonagall racing up, with Professors Flitwick, Sprout, and Dumbledore walking calmly but relieved behind. "Thank you for finding her Severus!"

"Where was she?" Fillius squeaked.

"My office," Snape said calmly. "She needed a listening ear. Apparently _somebody _decided it would be best to let the students isolate and mock her."

"I sense more to the story," Pomona frowned. "But, alas, it is far past curfew! Tomorrow at the staff meeting?"

"No," Snape snapped angrily, "Tonight, no later. You need to see this – _all _of you."

Minerva led Daisy through the portrait hole just then, and half the Gryffindor house was waiting while the other heads of houses bickered outside their common rooms.

"Alright, off to bed!" he heard her yelling, "And I'll hand out a detention with Professor Snape if anyone tries to make fun of one of your own lion cubs again for no reason! And mark my words, you can bet he'll make it most unpleasant!"

"Damn right I will!" he called in to her, "They'll be scrubbing cauldrons until they can't feel their arms and legs! Or worse!"

They all shuddered and hurried off to bed. It didn't take a genius to figure out that Snape was probably just mad because of the late hour. Daisy knew, however, that the two of them understood each other's pains perfectly. The only difference was that she had two older brothers who joined in her stepmother's "fun".

Minerva left the common rooms once they were all asleep, with Daisy back with the other first year girls, who were snickering, and they each received a cold glare from the Transfiguration teacher just before said Professor tucked a very, very tired Daisy into bed, who was asleep before her head even hit the pillow. It didn't take the others long to figure out that she'd probably just run off crying for the teachers' attention. They wondered vaguely who had found her.

"What is it, Severus?" Dumbledore asked as Minerva met back up with her fellow heads of houses in his office.

"Yes, Severus, what is so important that it can't wait?" Pomona scowled with mockery.

"This," he said pulling out the parchment Daisy had written. "Miss Dare had it in hand when I went into my office to find her sobbing in one of the chairs. I assumed the worst, so I let her stay."

"Oh, Merlin, this is-is this-a _suicide note_?" Minerva gasped in horror as tears came into her eyes.

"Either that or a runaway one," he blinked. "I may be cruel and heartless, but I'm not about to turn away a student who wants to die. Not when I myself sat in that very chair begging Professor Slughorn to let me stay with him over the summer, or to take me out of all of my other elective courses and put me in any Potions class he had available, even as a teacher's aide."

"Oh," Minerva gasped as she read the letter and fell back into a chair behind her with shock. "Oh my… how did you come by this?"

"She had it in hand, as if she wanted me to take it. She held a transfigured quill in another one, that she'd turned into a knife," he revealed, "Naturally I changed it back before anything could happen."

"Oh, god," Minerva said putting her face into her hands. "I knew they were picking on her, but I had no idea it was so bad! I thought it was just light teasing behind her back!"

"Obviously not," Snape said angrily. "I gave her a piece of parchment so that she could talk to me after curfew if she needed to. She seems to have come to think of me as a better head of house, I think."

"I've already scolded my lion cubs, but I'll be sure to give them hell for this," Minerva promised, "This is madness!"

"We'll let our houses know as well," Fillius squeaked as he finished the letter. "I've never seen a suicide note so wet… all that sorrow…"

"I think her family background is as bad as mine," Snape admitted, "She just doesn't want to admit it. I also think that her older stepbrothers drive off any possible friend, so she didn't have a-a-"

"A Lily," Minerva finished, and he nodded gravely.

There was a long silence in the room just before Dumbledore broke it.

"I will also take steps to ensure this doesn't happen again," he said calmly, "It is why Moaning Myrtle haunts her bathroom, and I do not wish another student to share her fate. Also, Sir Nicholas will need to keep an eye on Miss Dare for a few days yet."

"I'll have the Baron keep an eye on her in the dungeons when I can't," Snape said calmly, "And I will ensure that she is not insulted in any way, shape, or form in my classroom. Also, what is her address? I want to have a word with her parents."

"Uh-oh," Pomona said gravely, "I know what that means, Severus Snape, don't you _dare _threaten them!"

"I'm not going to threaten them," he sneered, "Just remind them of why they shouldn't touch her and start treating her with respect. After all, we wouldn't want a murderer out of another lion, would we?"

"Severus, it is times like this that you scare me," Minerva admitted with fear in her eyes. "If it gets worse, let me know. I want to have a little revenge of my own."

"As do I," Fillius piped in.

"Count me in," Pomona agreed.

"Get in line," Snape sneered, "Peeves and I go first."

The other teachers paled before he realized what he had said and sneered so profoundly that they were sure the apocalypse was coming. He started laughing at the possibilities, and they looked at each other before fleeing to the fireplace to escape from the maniac head of Slytherin house.

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So what do you think Snape will have Peeves do? I tried to make her in character, she'll be upset for a while yet whenever she's not around Snape, but things will get... complicated.

Anyhow, review please! Please, pretty please! Most of my stories have zero or one review to their names! *begging and pleading*


	4. Lion Mole

I still don't own Harry Potter or any character therein.

A thank you to anyone who reviewed!

Please enjoy!

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**December 1990**

"Quills down," Snape said, and Daisy set it down immediately. "I _said, _quills down, Mister Cane!"

The boy named Horatio cringed before putting down his quill. He was calm, and almost silent, deadly serious, and a firm believer in justice. He was one of few that Snape noticed who hadn't mocked Daisy out of their entire year, in all four houses.

"Accio," he said, and the parchments went flying into his hands. "Tut tut, I see bad grades in quite a few of your futures. Now get out. Dare, stay behind."

She was silent, and the others filed out as they knew the routine. She got in trouble for some minor thing she did wrong and he either lectured her or gave her a detention. What they _didn't _know, however, was that it was just a ruse so the two could talk.

"How do you feel you did?" he asked, and she shrugged.

"Don't count your snakes before they hatch," she said, and his lips twitched.

"Cheek, Miss Dare? Detention!" he snapped with a sneer, and she felt her lips twitch in a very Snape-like manner.

"Yes, sir," she said bluntly, "Am I to truly serve it over Christmas break?"

"No, just after," he said calmly. "I'm assuming you're staying here, then?"

"I don't want to go home," she admitted. "My stepmother and stepbrothers hate me. You know how it is, the classic Cinderella tale."

"Ah, so it's neglect," he said wisely. "I see. Well, you'll be pleased to know that I sent them a rather blunt letter telling them to fix their attitudes or find that they'll wish that they'd have never said a foul word towards you. In fact, I was quite tempted to send them a howler."

"A what, sir?" she asked, and he looked at her.

"A letter that magnifies the sender's voice by one hundred, it works quite well and is even more fun when you're yelling your message. I recall one boy in my year that got one and almost had his eardrums blown out by one," he smiled fondly. "Ah, that was one of the few good times in school after my fifth year. Nonetheless, how would you feel about Christmas?"

"I've never celebrated it, sir," she admitted, and his eyes narrowed. "I always received coal from my stepmother and stepbrothers, only for the boys to start telling me that black absorbs heat and that it's for witches. Oh the irony."

"And it does," he said calmly, "But that was no excuse for what they did. This year will be different, and woes betide them if I find a piece of coal sent to you in the mail. Then they'll _really _be facing my wrath in a howler, with me yelling as loud as I possibly can at them."

She couldn't help but stare at his words, slack-jawed and shocked.

"Close your mouth, you'll catch flies," he said calmly, "You're dismissed."

"Thank you, sir!" she gasped hugging him before racing out and heading straight up to the owlrey. She had half a mind of what he would want, but possibly, maybe if she was lucky it would get there in time.

Lucky for her, it did. Two days before Christmas a parcel came from Diagon Alley and she beamed before racing off to her dorm room (which was now empty for the holidays as she was the only Gryffindor who wasn't a prefect who was staying this year for fear of Snape's wrath), and opened it to find Snape's Christmas present. She smiled before thumbing through the journal and then placing it back down. She looked through the box to ensure that the entirety of it was there, and then transfigured a piece of parchment into wrapping paper for the gift. She wrapped it skillfully, having had years of practice wrapping up everyone else's presents for each other, and then took it under the tree. She sat on the couch and then began crying, her loneliness and pain seeming to bleed through her once again.

"Need a hand?" a voice came, and she turned to find a red-haired head boy, a Weasley, approach from the boys' dorms. "What's wrong?"

"I hate it!" she sobbed, and he frowned. "I hate this bloody holiday! I wish it had never been invented!"

"Hey, what do you mean?" he asked sitting next to her. "Professor McGonagall told us that you had a rough time at home because of your brothers, but what does this have to do with that? She said it was most of the cause for your crying, if not because of everyone else's teasing."

"They hate me!" she yelled angrily, "They all hate me! Professor Snape's the only one who understands!"

"What?" he asked appalled, "what do you mean?"

"I mean," she yelled standing up, "that he's the only person who even _cared _enough to even take _five minutes_, much less three hours, to listen to me when I had been about to kill myself in November!"

He stared at her in shock as she slapped her hands over her mouth in horror as she realized what she had just admit to him.

"You what?" he asked, "How-what-why? What's happening? Please tell me, I want to understand."

"What is there to not understand?" she yelled distraught, "My dad ignores me, my stepmom wants me dead, my stepbrothers love nothing more than torturing me, and the other teachers on staff don't give a care about what my house life is like! I could join Moaning Myrtle and none of them would give a rat's ass, except Professor Snape if I was lucky! My family wants me dead, don't you get it?! I come here looking for a new home, and all I get is one that's just as bad as the original one I was raised in! I come here looking for an education, and all I get is suffering! I try to enjoy a holiday, and even without them being here my family ruins everything for me!"

Charlie stared before racing to get Professor Snape, who was mulling in his office over the things he hated about Christmas. The head of Slytherin house listened as the young Gryffindor breathed out panicked words and gibberish before slamming his quill on his desk and following him up to the Gryffindor common rooms, where Daisy was still throwing a tantrum without even the slightest hint of a stutter, all her anger and rage coming out of her in wild magic now.

"Finite!" he yelled, before casing a nonverbal _Levicorpus_.

"Let me go!" she screamed, "Damn it, Weasley! LET ME GO, YOU TRAITOR WEASLEY OR I'LL HEX YOU INTO NEXT YEAR!"

"I'm a snake, not a lion," Snape said calmly, and her magic ceased immediately as she heard his voice and fell to the ground as he released his spell. "What seems to be the problem this time?"

"Them!" she screamed, "It's always them!"

"I'm assuming I'll need to send that howler," he huffed, and she looked up with an animosity so fierce in her eyes it reminded him of a trapped and desperate animal who was looking for an escape from their torment. "Come with me."

She followed him silently as Charlie stared after the Slytherin head of house, who flicked his wand and sent the room back to the way it had been. Ironically, it had been Professor Snape's gift that had been the only thing to survive her wild magic unscathed, and Charlie took careful note of this and the terrifying Potions Master's actions.

"What on earth is going on here?" he asked confused as Professor McGonagall hurried in. She took one look and frowned in confusion before he started explaining what had happened.

"Oh, good," she breathed, "We don't need another incident on our hands. Twenty points to Gryffindor for your quick wit, Mister Weasley."

"Professor, what was she talking about when she said that Professor Snape was the only one who would listen to her when she was about to kill herself in November?" he asked worriedly, "Does this have anything to do with her being missing?"

"Everything," she said gravely before sitting down to explain the basics of what had happened that night and why.

* * *

So she's still depressed, but she's starting to try to get over it. Peeves will make a comeback eventually, I still haven't decided what to have him do yet.

Please review! I'm begging you! TT_TT


	5. Awakened Abilities

I still don't own Harry Potter, nor anything therein. Daisy and her powers (except being a witch) are my creations.

A thank you to my reviewers, and enjoy!

* * *

** December 1990**

"I'm assuming that your parents have once again wormed their way into your mind," he scowled as he sat down behind his desk. "Tell me, what seems to be the problem?"

"You already know," she scowled, wanting to be left alone.

"I can't help you if you don't talk to me," he said calmly. "What happened back there?"

"You saw," she said darkly. "I threw a fit."

"Yes, I see that," he said calmly, "and managed to get over your stuttering as well, and that last one is a good thing. I hope that aspect doesn't change, it's unbecoming of a young witch to stutter."

"Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving, Halloween, St. Patrick's Day – it's all the same," she scowled as tears ran down their face. "They yell at me and tell me to put up all the decorations for the holiday and then to put it all away before the next day is over or they'll throw me out on the streets."

"Did they?" he asked, and she looked up at him.

"My stepmother threw me in the basement," she said, "I had spiders crawling all over me for a day before she came back down to get me. I didn't get food for a week because I had been begging to be let out."

He sighed heavily before leading her out of his office and to a different room. he whispered a password to the portrait of Salazar Slytherin, and it flung open. He jerked his head, and she went in to find that he had led her to his private quarters. He flicked his wand and his chaise lounge chair became a bed, complete with green and silver blankets.

"I refuse to have something without Slytherin representation present in my quarters," he scowled, "I believe that you yourself are a bit of a Slytherin. You are cunning, and stuttered to try to defend yourself and your silence, but that little slip-up just now destroyed it."

"Why does it matter?" she grumbled, "He's just going to keep hating me anyways."

"On the contrary," Snape said calmly, "He braved going to the oversized bat of Hogwarts to calm you down. That took guts, and he's a Gryffindor, which the entire school knows I hate, with one exception that they don't know about. Come, off to bed with you. We wouldn't want to watch Father Christmas come in the night."

"Father Christmas?" she asked, and he blinked at her. "Who's that?"

"Santa, Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, the fat man in red who gives presents," he said like it was obvious and everyone should know this. "Didn't your- never mind. Simply put, if you hang a stocking on a fireplace or some sort of mantle-like object, he'll come and fill it with presents. Although whether or not he's real, I leave that in your decision. Most would leave out a plate of gingerbread cookies, but I find that a bowl of Lemon drops works much more to my favor in Christmas."

"Dumbledore," she murmured, and he jabbed her forehead.

"Off to bed," he scolded gently. "Don't make me give you a dreamless sleep potion, I wouldn't want to deprive the sugar plums a chance for dancing in your head for the first time."

She gave him another blank look and he rolled his eyes.

"Remind me to explain all the Christmas fables to you in the morning," he scowled, "Good night, Miss Dare."

"Good night, Professor Snape," she called out as he went up to his room. She stared in the dark for a while before turning over and closing her eyes.

OoOoOoOoO

It was odd, Snape considered, that a Gryffindor would choose to trust him more than their head of house, and even more so since he was supposed to be feared by all. Still, he wasn't going to complain since this year he at least wouldn't be alone on Christmas. A first ever since he was fifteen, a long near twenty years alone, but maybe it was about time to try and start anew now that a new millennium was on the way, he considered. What was even odder to him was that this child understood his pain perfectly, more so than anyone in the world could have, and that she was a _Gryffindor _of all houses to be from.

He was astonished to find a shameful feeling in his trousers, and shook his head to clear it. She was a _student _for Salazar's sake, a _first year_! He sighed before climbing into his own bed and almost falling asleep himself. He grabbed a couple presents that he had prepared for Daisy (he recalled the pain of having no presents on Christmas), and quietly tip-toed down to the lobby of his quarters. She was fast asleep, he noted, and cast a powerful silencing charm to ensure she didn't wake up.

"Professor," she said perfectly as if she were awake. He froze, unsure of whether or not she was awake fully. She rolled over in her sleep, and muttered "Professor Snape".

He blinked before turning back to the task at hand. He quietly placed the gifts under the tree and then tiptoed past again, glancing at the sleeping child. He yawned before going to his bed and laying his head down to consider all that had happened that night. He frowned at the thought of the first year dreaming of him, and had to visibly force the image of himself wearing a white tutu out of his head, ramming his fists against his head with vehement vigor.

"Damn it, Dare!" he snarled, "Mark my words, I'll make you pay for that image!"

O.o.O.o.O.o.O

Daisy looked around her in confusion. She was in the Great Hall, with everything decked out for what she knew could only be the Yule Ball, held once every seven years. She saw a young, teenage Professor Snape, trying to dance with a young red-haired green-eyed girl. She was also being sought out by a member of her own house, however. The boy with the glasses was insulting Professor Snape, who was taking it all in stride, and doing his best to ignore the bigot.

Things went wrong, however, when a hex hit teenage Snape and he was soon wearing nothing but boxer shorts. He yelled in alarm and raced out of the hall, with everyone laughing at him, even those from the other schools. The red-haired girl did nothing, looking between the doors and the boy who had vanished Snape's clothes.

"Oh well," she shrugged and began dancing with the boy with glasses. "James, will you marry me?"

"Of course, Lily," the boy with glasses beamed, "Do you mind if we name our son Harry?"

"If we can name our daughter Ivy," she countered, and he beamed.

Daisy's blood froze as she realized she was looking at Lily and James Potter. She raced out to the teenage Snape, bursting into the office of a rather large Potions Master who was trying to comfort the young teen.

"Professor!" she yelled, and the walrus frowned. "Oh, thank god you're okay!"

"What?" the walrus frowned. "Now listen here, young lady, I don't know what you're-!"

The walrus was cut off as she summoned a spare set of robes from a closet, one that his clothes had been vanished to.

"Here," she said handing them to Snape. "What that boy did was wrong, and you mark my words, I'll be giving that piece of garbage a piece of my mind! And if I ever get my hands on his sorry neck, he'll wish he'd have never been born, Professor Snape!"

The two stared at her as she realized what she'd just done. She gaped back in horror and slapped her hand over her mouth. She began silently panicking, wondering if she'd created some sort of paradox in an alternate world. Snape stood up, boxer shorts graying, and looked at her with shame, his torso riddled with scars.

"Severus," the old wizard said quietly, "Do you know her?"

"No," he said narrowing his eyes. "But something tells me that she'll come to Hogwarts long after you've stopped teaching, sir. If she called me Professor, then I must have followed in your footsteps."

"Please, whatever you do, if you see a first year Gryffindor girl crying in your office one year, don't kick her out!" she begged, "She'll kill herself if you don't!"

"I don't know what you're talking about, but I will keep that in mind," the younger Snape said calmly before the dream shifted.

He was now older in this scene and drunk off his ass. It was November First, Nineteen Eighty-One, and everyone was celebrating but him. He held a knife in his hand, and stared at it longingly.

"Don't!" she shouted, and he jerked up and brandished the bottle in one hand and the knife in the other at her. "Please don't!"

"You again," he spat, "Where were you when I needed you, huh? Where were you when they forced me to become a Death Eater? Where were you when I gave the Dark Lord the prophecy about the Potters? Where were you when they were killed? Huh? WHERE?!"

"I don't know," she stuttered, "I was probably in diapers somewhere, okay?!"

"That's not possible, you're right in front of me," he spat, "How?"

"I'm dreaming," she said half to herself in realization, "My father used to tell me that my mother would always talk about past events as if she was there. This must have been what he was talking about!"

"Well, if I'm in your time, I obviously don't commit suicide," he snarled, "So what the hell am I supposed to do with my life? Become a spy?"

"If it makes you feel better," she said warily, "That's what I would do, to honor my friend's memories, not that I have any my age."

"You know, I think you're right," he murmured before the scene shifted again.

* * *

So, how do you think she's doing this? Don't worry, she's not the only one with this power, I promise.

Please review!


	6. Christmas Morning

it's Christmas! Anyways, this chapter explains Daisy's powers. She has to explain it to him because even he doesn't know about it. She's not the only one with the powers, don't worry, and I'll try to keep this as far from Mary-Sue as possible.

To Kaidiii - Thank you very much! I hope you enjoy this chapter!

And on that note, I hope everyone enjoys this chapter!

* * *

**December 1990**

She stared as the dream shifted again. This time, Professor Snape was wearing nothing but boxer shorts to begin with, staring at the mirror in disgust. To Daisy's astonishment, there were scars all over his body, not a few from his own household issues. She could see that some were the cause of magical means, while others were clearly muggle means, which she could only assume meant a violent household. She also saw that there was a wide array of them, with some being small loops connecting into what she swore was a chain.

"Feeling sentimental?" she asked, and he glared at her.

"Oh, it's you," he spat, "you'll be happy to know I did as you suggested. Now what?"

"I don't know," she admitted, "I only know that you told me that you would make sure that no student in any house goes through what you did as a student."

"Well, I'm the Potions Master," he said at last, "But the smell that I smell in Amortentia – it's so-wrong. It's not Lily at all. It's not her, but-it's someone else. I can't figure it out."

"You will someday," she promised, "It's probably somewhere in both of our futures."

"How are you doing this?" he asked, and she smiled.

"That's a secret that I'll tell you when I'm your student," she promised before he looked at her.

"How old are you?" he asked, and tilted his head.

"I'm a student at Hogwarts," she replied warily with a frown. "Why?"

"Then I feel no guilt in doing this," he said striding to her and putting his lips on hers.

She gasped in shock, and felt immediately through his kiss all the longing and loneliness that he'd held pent up for so very long. She also felt it coming from his groin as he leaned back and sat on the edge of his bed, sitting her in his lap carefully, and she forced herself not to touch his hair. Out of impulse, on some insane urge, she pushed against his lips, and immediately felt a spark of life come into her future Potions Master's body. She was held closer to him and he kissed her more urgently, moaning in pleasure as he did so.

"I look forward to having you as a seventh year student," he gasped as he broke away at last to give her some room and let her breathe. "Things will be _most _interesting, and a lot better for the both of us, I promise."

She was jerked back to her present Christmas by his setting her down on the floor and she rolled off onto the floor from the transfigured bed. She heard footsteps immediately and looked at her Potions Master. Her heart began racing in light of the dream, and he looked into her eyes with confusion.

"Do you remember?" she asked, and he tilted his head. "That day, when you were drunk and trying to figure out what to do with your life now that your friend was dead, or that time that you were in front of a mirror trying to figure out how being a Potions Master worked into…"

"Impossible," he breathed, "You-How did you know about that? How?!"

"It's a power I inherited from my mom," she said getting up. "We can project ourselves into the past and communicate. By the way, you looked pretty weird in boxer shorts."

He paled before flushing. She cringed and held her arms up before he jerked them aside and planted his lips on hers. She relaxed, and curled up against him.

"You have no idea how long I've been waiting for you," he murmured, "Day in and day out, hoping that the witch who kept showing up in my past would somehow find me and rescue me from my own living hell."

"Well, here I am," she admitted sheepishly. "Probably not what you were expecting, was it?"

"No," he admitted, "Did you know that you saved my life those two times that you mentioned?"

"No," she said startled, "And what was with-never mind, it's probably some adult thing."

"Ah, with that last memory," he said sheepishly, and she nodded. "Yes, yes it is a _very _adult thing, and I admit I should have had a little more control with you that day."

"Um, that boy, James, and the girl, Lily," she said sheepishly, and his gaze turned colder than ice. "They-they're Lily and James Potter, aren't they? The ones from the Yule Ball who vanished your clothes."

"Yes," he scowled, "Then you probably know."

"You're a Death Eater spy," she murmured, and he nodded. "My lips are sealed."

"Then allow me to permanently seal them," he chuckled darkly before kissing her. He broke away and considered. "This is so wrong."

"True, but who's going to know?" she asked, and he looked down at her. "What? You said so yourself that I have some Slytherin in me. This is that Slytherin coming out. I mean, I _am _in the presence of the king of snakes."

"Half-Blood Prince," Snape corrected. "King of Snakes is the Dark Lord."

"Volde-!"

"Don't say it," he hissed, "You warned me at a later age that his name will become a taboo so feared that even Potter won't say his name because it will destroy protection spells and summon a mass of Death Eaters."

"Oh," she said dumbfounded. "Sir?"

"Hm?"

"I-Can I touch your hair?" she asked sheepishly and he blinked in shock. "Please?"

"Fine," he conceded, and she gently reached up to run her fingers through it.

"So silky," she marveled, "What shampoo do you use?"

"What makes you think I wash it?" he snorted, "Everyone else thinks I don't."

"I'm not them," she told him, "And besides, I've gotten a visit from my future self as well, you know."

"Oh? Saying what?" he asked, pulling up a chair.

"That I end up marrying a Slytherin," she said matter-of-factly, "Who was nearly killed in a war by You-know-who himself. Or rather, his familiar."

"I pity the fool," Snape shuddered before turning to look at the tree. "Bloody hell!"

"Wow!" Daisy half-yelled in shock. "All that for you?!"

"I highly doubt _that_," he scowled, and went over in three strides. "You've got some as well. Speaking of which, are there any other projectors in the school?"

"Of course! We can usually spot each other fairly quickly, if you just look hard enough. There's one in Slytherin that's a seventh year male, there's five in Ravenclaw, six in Hufflepuff, and another four older ones in Gryffindor. Not that they know I am one."

"Which students?"

"I don't know their names, sir," she admitted. "But the ones who can usually spot the others are usually the ones who are looking for those of their lineage. But I'm a half-blood, even though my cousin isn't a projector for some reason."

"It's genetic," Snape verified, and Daisy nodded. "Your cousin…?"

"Angelina Johnson. I hate this, this feeling of never belonging because of my powers," Daisy said bitterly as tears sprung to her eyes. "But when I was able to pinpoint the other projectors, I felt as though I'd finally found a way that I can be almost normal. I didn't know how, but all I knew was that they were special just like I was in a different way from most of the other students."

"If this is the best you can produce, Minerva, I may just start pitying Potter next year if he's not a miniature of his father. Oh wait, he's a Potter, of course he will be," Snape said to himself, and Daisy looked up at him before clinging to him as though he were the father figure that she had so desperately needed her whole life. "Is it true?"

"Is what true?"

"The rumors about projectors becoming attached to someone during their projections who will act as a person or figure that the projector needs most," Snape said, and Daisy frowned and furrowed her brow confused.

"I don't know. I just woke my powers up last night. With luck everything will get explained to me by an older version of myself someday," she said in a voice so faint that Snape could have sworn that she was merely a small voice in the back of his mind.

* * *

Aww, a little bit of fluff! I couldn't resist, I'm sorry!

Anyhow, please review and let me know what you think!


	7. Escape and Reunion

I still don't own Harry Potter. I apologize for all the late updates. I've got college, another batch of fanfics that I've worked ahead on and are trying to upload at regular intervals, and also some crossovers that I'm trying to come up with some ideas for.

* * *

**August 1998**

"Professor?" he heard, and jerked as he was snapped back to the present.

"Sorry," he wrote, "What was that, Potter?"

"I was saying: how do you know her?" he asked, "Aside from being Potions Professor."

"I also taught her Defense," Snape reminded in the smoke writing, "Where is she?"

"Uh, at home crying," Harry said warily. "Um…"

Snape flicked his wand and a Patronus appeared. This time, however, it was not a doe like they were expecting – rather, it was a wolf.

"A wolf?" Harry asked, and Snape shrugged.

The wolf bounded off and Snape stared after it.

"What changed?" Harry asked, "I heard that emotions will change it, but what changed?"

Snape said nothing, his gaze becoming unfocused as the thought about everything that had happened to the Gryffindor whose life he'd saved. She'd been much less trouble than Potter, and he wanted to see the young witch again, even if only for a few hours. It would at least comfort him for a little while if someone came to kill him in the night.

"I'll just be going then," Harry said awkwardly. "Thanks again for letting me talk, Professor."

Snape was emotionless as he lay there silently. A nurse came in to check his vitals, and he frowned at the sight of her. She looked similar, like a combination between Lily and Daisy, and he hated it. She was wary, and ran out as quickly as she could. It was ten minutes later that a male healer walked in and flicked his wand at Professor Snape and began murmuring spells.

"Well, Professor, it looks like you're all patched up," he said calmly. "As long as you take it easy, you'll be fine. No talking for another few weeks unless you have to, and be sure to take a pain potion whenever you're in pain. Madame Pomfrey warned me about you being a stickler for healing regimens. You'll be brought back right quick if you stray and aggravate your neck."

"Yes, yes, I get it," Snape wrote. "Let me out."

"Alright, alright," he said putting his hands up fearfully. "Don't get your knickers in a twist."

Snape's glare shut him up and he discharged the grumpy Slytherin. With a sigh of relief through his nose, Snape changed back into a clean pair of black robes that Potter had left behind for him. He almost smirked at the boy's thoughtfulness before going and wordlessly apprarating straight to a street in Spinner's End.

As he walked through the streets, he saw a few people, and gruffly nodded ever so slightly. He had ensured that the bandages were still visible on his neck, so they left him be. A few daring Muggles remembered him from when he was a child, and one approached him with a pen and paper. They struck up a conversation, with Snape writing his answers back to the man, and the elderly Muggle winced as he read a Muggle version of what had happened to the Potions Master.

"Ow," he said shaking his head. "Tch, Colleagues these days, ya cain't trust 'em."

"I agree," Snape wrote, "Unless you taught them of course."

"Aye, you're a scary man when you want to be, Sev'rus," he said nodding, and Snape sneered. "A right scary man, terrifying. Why, I remember when a woman on my street somehow got you yelling so loud at her, I heard you all the way down the street!"

"Wait, what?" Snape wrote, "When was that? What was the name?"

"Eh, some Rachel Dare," he said warily, "You was yelling something about neglecting their stepdaughter, the poor girl."

"Ah, Miss Daisy," he wrote, "I remember her. Quietest student I ever taught, literally. Didn't speak a word, completely mute for fear once the others started picking on her for her stutter, but I made sure to set them all straight. No student gets made fun of in _my _classroom, and those boys were regretting it for weeks."

"Did she ever talk again?" he asked, and Snape pulled the pad to him.

"She spoke, but only when it concerned her anger or frustration about her parents. It was as if they had completely forbidden her to talk and she only spoke whenever an emotional dam inside of her broke. It took me weeks to get her to talk, and that was still just between the two of us. Over time, she came to talk a little more, but it was still only just enough for me to be able to get the basics," Snape wrote quickly. "Turns out, they were so neglectful, she thought the world wanted her dead. I ended up saving her life in her second month at the Private school I teach at."

"Oh," the old man said sadly. "Poor dear. She moved off, just down the street from your house, I think. started renting a room with Agatha."

"What?" Snape wrote, and the man repeated it. "When?"

"Uh, just last year," he said carefully, "She got in a fight with a bunch of weird guys with black cloaks and silver masks, and ended up whipping them like dogs."

"I-Where is she now?" Snape wrote quickly, "She could have been killed, those men were criminals!"

"Oi, easy Sev'rus," the man said as Severus started coughing in his panic, "Easy now, lad. She still there."

Snape's eyes widened, and the man nodded.

"Thank you, Agnes," Snape wrote and handed the pen and paper back to the elderly man, "but I need to go check up on my top Chemistry student. She's the only one I trust to take my place now that I'm the headmaster. I worked hard to build up a good chemistry reputation, I intend to have it upheld, and I will not have a dunderheaded fool teaching my favorite subject."

The man stared as Snape walked briskly towards Agatha's house, which was down the road from Snape's own home. He knocked on the door, and the elderly Muggle woman answered.

"Sev'rus!" she gasped, "What bring you here?"

He pointed to his throat and made a no-no motion with his other finger. He quickly began spelling out Daisy in sign language. She tilted her head confused, and he deadpanned. He looked to find her having planted daisies in the garden out front of her house, and pointed at them.

"The daisies? Oh, Daisy!" she realized, and he gave her a thumbs-up. "Oh, right. Daisy! There's someone here to see you!"

"If I find that you're another one of those good for nothing…" she ranted angrily before stopping in shock. "Professor! You're alive!"

He breathed in her scent with relief as she tackled him into a fierce hug. He held her close, taking another trip down memory lane.

* * *

Wahoo! Snape and Daisy sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G! Just kidding, not yet. But I may just do that...

Review please!


	8. Panic Attacks

I still don't own Harry Potter. Anyhow, please enjoy the late updates.

* * *

**June 1990**

"Professor?" he heard Daisy said hesitantly as she entered his office at the end of her first year. "I just wanted to thank you for being my friend this year, and-and I wanted to know if you'd like to keep me as a friend next year."

"Of course," he said standing up. "You'll always be welcome in my office, so long as I'm not punishing another student at the time! By the way… I sent a howler to your parents. They should be behaving better now, but if not, try to find this address."

"Your home?" she asked, and he nodded. "You're just giving me your address?"

"I know I needed a place to escape to when my parents were arguing and raising hell," he said kindly, and she smiled and hugged him tightly around the middle. "Which reminds me, thank you for the Christmas present. Merlin knows I needed it."

"You're welcome sir," she smiled wider, "Thank you for yours."

"Perhaps we could both be spending a little more time in front of a mirror, yes?" he chuckled, and she laughed before clamping her hands over her mouth. "What? Is laughter forbidden for you?"

She nodded and looked to the floor.

"Well, when you're at my house, and in this school, disregard everything your father and stepfamily ever taught you," he said placing his hands on her shoulders. "When you are at my house, you will be treated as an equal."

"Thank you," she breathed and hugged him tightly. "Sir?"

"Yes?"

"Do you-do you think it's possible for you to love?" she asked, and he blinked.

"Yes, but it's been so long I've forgotten what it was like," he said softly. "I hope that one day I can eventually find some woman blind enough to marry me."

"I don't think they'll have to be blind," she said pulling away. "They just need to look for the man on the inside, not the outside. Not that I think you're ugly, because I really don't sir."

"Hn, what I thought," he smirked and ruffled her hair from where a Slytherin had shaved and trimmed it so badly that it was now an uneven mess. Not that he cared any, but he'd gone ahead and helped her fix it anyways.

"I'll miss you," she murmured, and he knelt down.

"And I you," he said just as quietly. "Now get going, you don't want to miss the train and be stuck here with a bunch of tottering old fools and a snarky Potions Master."

Her eyes widened before she darted off. He chuckled before recalling what a girl resembling her only with black hair instead of brown had said a month earlier.

_What are you doing here, daddy? Where are we? And where is mommy?_

He'd wanted to die in that moment, and stormed over to the small child before the child had vanished, with quite a few Gryffindors and Slytherins had gaped at him before he'd snapped at them angrily to get back to work. Not that it had worked anyways since they were all snickering about the mystery child.

"Daisy, I hope you know what you're doing," he murmured, "And I sincerely hope that someday you'll forgive me for being a bastard like I'll have to be to survive the war."

O.O.O.O.O

Daisy yawned on the train, inside a compartment with twin red-haired boys and Cedric Diggory, a Hufflepuff. She yawned a second time a few seconds later and fell fast asleep, her body projecting once more.

This time, she found herself sitting in a house, where a large drunk was beating a small naked boy while the mother watched on with a frown, her wand pointed cowardly at the man's back.

"Stop!" Daisy screamed, and the large drunk froze, his dog chain dangling dangerously. "You'll kill him!"

"That's the whole damn point, freak!" he yelled, "Who the hell're ye? Tellin' me what ter do in me own house? Hah! Yer a coward, ye are."

"Wingardirium Leviosa!" she yelled, and the chain went up into the air and began beating the man as she began moving her wand at lightning speed.

"Oh, ow!" he yelled, "What the hell're ye doing here? Get outten me house!"

"No!" Daisy yelled, jerking him so that he was facing her. She rammed her foot onto the man's groin before sending a major stinging hex at it that would make him be hurting there so badly for so long that he wouldn't be able to think straight. "Maybe that will teach you not to hurt your child!"

"Ye little bitch," he hissed angrily, "Ye'll get killed one day, mark me words…"

"Oh yeah? Well my time is after you're dead, so fuck off!" she snapped angrily as she darted forward to help the small child.

She gasped in horror as she saw the blood on the boy, and was even more shocked when she saw the tiny boy's face and hair. She recognized him, vaguely, but it was him, it was the one who would one day become her Potions Master.

"Don't worry, I'm going to get you out of here someday," she promised to him, "Someday you'll be so big that your old man can't hurt you, and you'll have him writhing on the floor in pain, ready to kill him at a moment's notice if you wanted to."

She knew it was useless and he probably couldn't hear her, but she still worked Neosporin onto his wounds and stitched his deeper ones closed. He opened his eyes, and looked at her pleadingly.

"Lily," he gasped, "Lily!"

"Shh," she soothed, "I'm here. Don't worry about Lily none, I'm here."

"You little bitch!" she heard, and wheeled to find Tobias Snape storming towards her, anger and hate on his face. "I'll kill ye!"

"Relashio!" she yelled, and his chain went bounding up against his own face. "Take that!"

"I'll kill ye!" he repeated in a drunken stupor before she struggled to get the knife away from him.

In an instant, his face was contorted in pain, and she looked down to find that he had blood on his clothes, seeping from a place near his groin. She backed away, blood on her hands, and started screaming.

It was that scream that awoke her to the compartment in the car, and she stood up and prepared to fight in fear. She surveyed her surroundings, wide-eyed and pumped with adrenaline, and Cedric stood up.

"Daisy? Are you okay?" he asked, and she looked down at her hands.

"No," she gasped, "No! Blood, blood, so much blood!"

"Hey, hey, what are you talking about?" he asked, "Calm down, it's okay, there's no…blood…"

He gaped as blood became apparent on her hands, and his as well.

"What in the name of Merlin is going on?!" he yelled in panic, "What did you do?!"

"I don't know!" she yelled, "I was in a fight in my dream, and then there was blood, and-and now I'm a murderer!"

"Hey, hey, pipe down!" the twins shushed, "Do you want to get us in trouble?"

"Not that they don't do that on their own anyways," Cedric scowled, "But how does – oh, accidental magic. Guys, the spell is _scourgify_. Can you use that on our hands?"

"Scourgify," they said in unison, and the two sets of hands were soon spotless. "See? All…gone…"

"Aaah!" Daisy yelled in panic before fainting at how much more blood had appeared on her hands and in the compartment.

* * *

Why do you think there's so much blood? How do you think the trio will react? Snape? Well, you'll see...

Review please!


	9. Telling the Others

I am _so _sorry that I haven't been on in a week! I'm so sorry! I've been bogged down by college work! I had this enormous project that was worth 10% of my final grade due today! But now that I have it done, I can finally update on all of my fanfics!

Again, I am so very sorry for making everyone wait, but I will make it up to you by posting extra chapters this time! Oh, and I still don't own Harry Potter nor any of the characters.

* * *

**That same day**

"What happened?" Snape demanded as they neared King's Cross. "Oh, god, Dare! Damn it, what happened?"

"We didn't do it, she was rattling off about some dream and the next thing we know there's blood everywhere!" the three boys said as they cringed on the chairs of their compartment.

Snape began casting diagnosis charms after another and checked her pulse.

"Thank god she's only fainted," he sighed, "It's probably just accidental magic."

"We tried cleaning it up with Scourgify, but it keeps getting worse every time," Cedric said scared of all the blood and his Professor, "What do we do?"

"Leave this compartment, and say a word to no one," he said firmly. "The blood will leave once you're out of range. This isn't the first time her dreams have become a reality through accidental magic."

And with that he apparated her back to Hogwarts, just outside the gates, and carried her to the Hospital Wing.

"Poppy!" he yelled, "Miss Dare had another episode!"

"Oh, that child!" the medi-witch yelled, "Honestly, did you figure out what-Dear Merlin, Severus, what on earth happened?!"

"What?" he asked before looking down to find both of them literally soaked and covered in blood, "Ah, that. The episode created it. She's fine if I'm correct from your diagnosis spells."

"What happened?" the other heads of houses and Dumbledore asked in unison as they flooded in.

"Great Godric, Severus, what have you done?!" Minerva screamed.

"Episode, not me," he said as he plopped the child onto a bed. As soon as he was out of range, the blood on him vanished. "See?"

"I don't even _want _to know what her dream was about this time," Poppy scowled, "Honestly!"

"Snape," Daisy gasped as her eyes opened out of nowhere. "Snape! Snape!"

"Right here," he said calmly, "What happened?"

"You-you-you-you-you-you," she gasped before looking at herself and screaming loudly. "Get it off! Get it off! No, I'm not Lady Macbeth! Get it off! GET IT OFF!"

The other heads of houses and Dumbledore covered their ears, but Snape was calm. He summoned a calming draught and forced it down her throat and crossed his arms as they waited for it to take effect on her. Finally, a few minutes later, she was calm.

"Now, care to tell us what you were screaming about?" Minerva asked gently but sternly.

"Your dad is an asshole!" she screamed as she pointed at Snape, and he blinked, "Do you realize what I had to do to that bastard?!"

He smiled before bursting into laughter and clapping slowly in delight.

"I remember that! You kicked his ass, yelled at my parents, ended up playing medical witch on me when I was five, and then got in a fight over a knife with him!" he laughed with tears coming to his eyes. "Oh, Salazar, I'd almost completely forgotten that one!"

"Severus, what are you talking about?" Pomona asked, "Is there something you're not telling us?"

"I'm a projector," Daisy said calmly, "I project back into the past when I'm asleep sometimes, and it makes itself manifest in my dreams. So far, I've saved him from humiliation, seen him drunk of his rocker, another time in his boxers – don't ask – and now ended up having to save his life."

"Oh, that was a happy day for me," Snape managed before wiping his eyes of the mirthful tears. "Did I ever tell you how much I enjoyed that show even though I was nothing but a mass of pain at the time?"

"No," she managed, "Are you okay?"

"Aside from the fact that you now know just how bad my childhood was, yes," he smirked, "You?"

"I think I'll manage," she said shakily. "That was creepy. Did your dad survive?"

"Sadly, he did," Snape said calmly, "But I got the last laugh on him when I saw an older version of you kick his ass again when I was seventeen and use a bunch of stinging and cutting hexes until he died of blood loss! Of course, I got the credit for that, and well – you know."

"I'm sure I'll figure that out when the time comes," she said throwing his words back at him. "I look forward to having a seventh year here together with you. Things will be _very _interesting."

"Cheeky brat," he snorted, "I should apparate you back onto the train right now."

"How long has this been going on?" Minerva asked, "How long have you been projecting?"

"Since Christmas Eve," she admitted, "It was quite interesting to see a teenage Professor Snape. It was quite endearing."

"Shut up," he snapped before storming out.

"Oh, I think she hit a nerve," Pomona laughed, "Something tells me you two will be perfect for each other."

"Oh, I know," she said like it was nothing, "I already received a visit from twenty-five year old version of myself telling me that I marry him and have his kids."

The adults stared in shock at her before she began laughing like a maniac and Professor McGonagall apparated her back onto the train with worry evident in her eyes.

* * *

Yes, she just said that. Of course, it could have been the shock coming out. Or the prank player in her. Either way... you'll see.

Please review and let me know what you think! and I am so very sorry for not updating sooner!


	10. Hovering

Still don't own Harry Potter, and here's the second of five chapters to reward you all for the week long wait on me while I worked on college.

Thank you for putting up with me and reviewing!

* * *

**September-November 1991**

"Harry Potter!" Minerva called out, and Snape prayed to every deity that he wasn't in Slytherin – he'd have killed him if he were.

Snape thanked said deities later as he was put into the house of the lions – he was Minerva's problem now, and thank Merlin! He, too, ignored Snape the first day, but Snape learned from his mistakes. This time, Snape started quizzing him and drilling him, knowing he wouldn't have any idea of any of the answers. The shame and humiliation on his face was priceless. He was the last to leave, trying to show Snape the notes, but Daisy had raced in and hugged Snape fiercely before her classmates got there.

"I ran straight here!" she bragged, "History was _awful_, how _did _you stay awake in his class, Professor?"

"I managed," Snape said vaguely. "Potter, out with you, or it's detention!"

He glared before leaving with tears in his eyes. Daisy looked between him and Snape and then put her hands on her hips.

"You gave him detention for the same thing you did me, didn't you?" she asked.

"No, I quizzed him," Snape corrected with a sneer, "which he failed."

"You're terrible!" she yelled, and he chuckled.

"I try," he said vaguely before beginning to set up the classroom for the next class.

O.o.O.o.O

"Troll in the dungeon!" Quirrel yelled as he ran into the Great Hall. "I thought you ought to know…"

Most of the students were screaming as they realized what had been said, and it was Dumbledore who restored calm. Daisy immediately saw through Quirrel's plot, and raced towards Professor Snape.

"Professor Snape!" she called, and he swerved to her. "Quirrel's going somewhere else!"

He nodded before racing to the third floor corridor. Daisy raced alongside most of the Professors, but stopped when she smelled the troll.

"Dare," she heard someone whisper, and looked to find an older version of herself. "Get the teachers; tell them you've seen me. Let them know that Quirrel is a traitor. Tell them that he kidnaps you at the end of the year."

"Does he?" she asked, and the older version nodded.

"If not for Professor Snape having you in detention almost every day," she said gravely, and the younger Daisy paled. "Trust me on this; he helps you with your spells. Well, and a couple snogging sessions, but that's beside the point."

Daisy paled before racing to tell the teachers what her older version of herself had been told, and they frowned and scoffed at her. She was sorrowed to find that even Professor Dumbledore hadn't taken her seriously. In a fit of angry tears, she screamed at them that there was a basilisk in the school that would be let loose the next year, and that a prisoner would break out of Azkaban the next one just before a year with a TriWizard tournament.

Snape wasn't there at the time, so he could hear her angry rant, and she ran off to the astronomy tower and stopped at the railing. She remained for a long while just before climbing over and remaining there for a while, looking out over the grounds. A stinging hex was shot at her back, and she was propelled forwards, with no thought for who they were or how they knew where she was. She tried to scream, but she had been silenced, and her heart clenched just before a vapor of black smoke swept and caught her, whisking her away with it. As it landed just inside Professor McGonagall's office through the window, Daisy saw that it was Professor Snape who had saved her life.

"What were you thinking?" he hissed, "Did you have a death wish?"

"No," she whimpered, "I was looking out over the grounds when someone shot a spell at me from behind."

He huffed before pulling her close to him and burying her face in his robes, with his chest rising and falling worriedly. He could tell it was only partway the truth and that she'd been crying (who wouldn't be after telling someone who knew she could project what her older projection had said) and that she was distraught. Her adrenaline was still racing however, so he used Minerva's fireplace to get back to his own office. He sent a message to Minerva through the Floo, telling her that Daisy would be staying on his couch for the night to help her get over what they'd done.

She huddled on the couch, and he sat next to her, running his hands through her hair and giving her a small cup of tea with a calming draught in it. She took a breath explaining where she'd been, what she'd done, and what she'd seen that night. After she finished, the Potions Master followed in suit, also hiding a few facts. However, she'd seen him limping, and so she knelt down and rolled his pants leg up.

"You honestly care enough to care for an injured Professor?" he asked appalled, and she nodded. "I suppose an apology is in order on behalf of the staff. You told them all that you could project your spirit over time, and yet they still deny what your older projections are telling you. I've seen them, so I know that you are telling the truth, but they – they will learn in time, most especially after the things that you've said will come true."

"Professor?"

"Hm?"

"What did this to you?" she asked as she bandaged his leg gently yet firmly.

"I'm afraid that is confidential to the staff only," he said sternly. "However, I can warn you that it has paws and Hagrid raised it."

"A Cerberus," she said, and he smirked. "It _is,_ isn't it?"

"Yes, but again, this is confidential," he said firmly. "If word got out that I told you, I would lose my job, or worse."

The next day, things returned to normal, or somewhat. Quirrel stuttered more than normal, and had visibly cringed when Daisy had responded to his calling her name on the roll. Snape was protective as ever, in his own heartless kind of way during class, and Professor McGonagall was casting her wary glances. The other Professors went about as normal, as though nothing had happened, and Daisy was beginning to feel more isolated than ever.

Finally, one day in Potions, a Slytherin boy tripped her, and she fell willingly and her head was literally rammed onto the bench before landing on the floor with a sickening crack. Snape rushed forwards, putting his fingers to her jugular to check her pulse. When he found her heartbeat there, he put a couple fingers above her nose and mouth to find that she wasn't breathing.

In a panic, he began to perform CPR just after sending Poppy Pomfrey a patronus. He pressed his hands to her chest and began to do compressions extremely quickly, working furiously. The other students were wary, not understanding what he was doing. He summoned a small air pump to force air into her body, and put it over Daisy's mouth and nose. He used it a couple times before performing the compressions for another minute. He repeated this process until Poppy arrived five extremely long minutes later.

"What happened?" she asked as she saw him doing compressions. "Fumes are obviously not it."

"She was tripped," one Gryffindor said bravely, "Her head hit something…"

"The bench then the floor," Snape said curtly before Poppy flicked her wand at the small twelve year old girl.

"Oh, Holy Hufflepuff," Poppy said shocked, "Severus, I don't know how you forced her to stay breathing, but you've just saved her life! Keep at it, I've got to go get healers from St. Mungo's to transport her – I am afraid that this is out of my league!"

Snape said nothing as he continued, and the other students carefully and quietly put their potions on his desk. Luckily, Daisy's hadn't been vanished, and it was one of the two Weasley twins (Snape was never sure which was which) that bottled hers up for her and put it on his desk.

Three healers rushed in alongside Madame Pomfrey as she returned, and they immediately set to work on the tiny Gryffindor. The other students stared as the adults flicked their wands at a cork and turned it into a portkey that they took back to the hospital. He knew he'd probably just done something really stupid in front of Death Eater children, but it had been worth it.

"I don't get it, Professor," one snake said coldly. "Why'd you save that Mudblood's life?"

"Do not say that word in front of me," Snape snapped. "There are a number of reasons. One, I would lose my job if I didn't save her life. Two, I would go to Azkaban for the same reason. Three, as a professor, I am sworn to protecting _all _students from death as best I can, regardless of house ties. Four, she is a half-blood, and very powerful. Five, even if none of the above punishments were there, both the headmaster and Professor McGonagall would kill me if I stood and did nothing while one of their precious lion cubs died. And Six, wouldn't you want Professor McGonagall or someone else to do the same for you if you were dying?"

"Yes, sir," he said humbled. "Sorry."

"If I find out whoever tripped her, I shall _make sure _that this person is at least given an extremely strict warning for nearly killing one of their fellow students. Now get out."

"But, sir-!" one Slytherin protested.

"OUT!" he roared, and the students fled from his classroom fearfully.

Even the Slytherins hadn't seen him this angry, and it terrified them. Instead of going to dinner like he normally would, he instead settles for pacing nervously and angrily in his office. He had known exactly who had done it, but had no bloody proof since he couldn't use Veritaserum. Unless…

He beamed at his idea, snarling and sneering at the same time while beginning to write something that he knew the students couldn't resist. Extra credit homework to whichever student could prove who had put their classmate's life in danger – yes, that would most certainly motivate them, he knew.

* * *

Oh, oh. I'd ask if you think that there will be permanent damage, but you'll just go on to the next chapter anyways. Anyhow, moving on!

Please review and a box of candy to whoever does!


	11. Waking Up

I'm not familiar with these kinds of injuries, so I... well, you'll see. I still don't own Harry Potter nor any of the characters.

* * *

**February 1992**

Daisy had finally woken up from the blunt-force trauma to the head caused coma. She remembered nothing except Potions class, her Potions Master, and – strangely – all of her Defensive spells. All the other things were a blank for her. She blinked up at the medics, who were talking amongst themselves and arguing, completely ignoring her.

"No, we can't! She'll die!" one argued.

"She looks fine to me!" another spat back.

"I think we should let her parents decide," a third cut in.

"They don't care about her," a vaguely-familiar elderly witch said.

"No, but we do," a shrill squeak said.

"As the staff of Hogwarts, we're willing to raise her ourselves," another vaguely familiar witch's voice said.

"Or have you forgotten the diagnosis of hers?" she heard her Potions Master sneer, and her heart rate climbed.

"Holy Hufflepuff!" the second vaguely familiar voice said. "Do you think…?"

"It's possible, Pomona," an elderly male said. "Severus, start talking."

"What? Why me?" her Potions Master snapped, and her heart rate climbed again. "Albus, what are you getting at? What does my talking have to do with anything?"

"She hears us," the elderly wizard said, "and I believe that she remembers you."

There was silence except for the beeping of the heart respirator.

"I think she should stay here until she's fully recovered," she heard Quirrel stutter, and her heart rate climbed so high that the medics hurried over. "See?"

"Honestly, Quirinus, whose side are you on here?" Snape snapped, "You need to decide where your loyalties lie!"

"Yes, indeed," a female voice growled from behind them, and they swerved to see an older version of Daisy. "Yes, hello Professors. By the way, Quirrel, you'll end up dying on the path you're on now. And yes, I'm who you lot think I am."

"Daisy?" one witch, the elderly one asked in shock.

"Yes, Professor McGonagall, it's me," the witch said firmly. "By the way, my younger version, the one from this time, can hear us right now. I'd wake her, but if I recall correctly our Prince Charming's kiss ended up waking me up."

"What?" they asked, and she grinned. "Who?"

"Why, Prince Charming! You know, with all the legendary tales of lore! Cinderella, Snow White, Rapunzel, Sleeping Beauty, Beauty and the Beast – oh, wait, that's a reverse one. You get the idea, all the old princesses from the stories."

"So, who exactly is your Prince charming here?" the elderly wizard, Albus asked.

"The Half-Blood Prince of course!" she grinned maniacally. "You lot won't get to meet him until he actually whisks me away on a Thestral."

"You scare me," the tiny wizard squeaked.

"Why, thank you, Professor Flitwick," she smirked. "Oh, and Professor Sprout, don't be alarmed when you lose one of your badgers in the Spring of 1995."

"What?" the other witch, the younger one asked.

"Oh, and Headmaster Dumbledore – I recommend having someone investigate into my household a little further," the elder Daisy sneered. "As well as that of Potter's. I think you'll find them less than desirable."

"Visiting hours is over for groups," a witch said as the other healers left. "All but one has to leave now."

"I'll stay," Snape said calmly. "She seems to be the most relaxed when I'm around. Besides, we don't even know who she will and won't remember, or even if it's any one of us at all, let alone the spells, plants and potions we've been trying to teach her."

"I never thought I'd say this, but I agree with Severus," Professor McGonagall said calmly. "We'll take turns. I'll take first shift."

"Yes, then Fillius, Severus and Pomona in that order," Albus said calmly.

"Oh, and just to be sure – there _is _a male healer over her tonight," the older Chessie said smoothly as though she'd been lying her whole life. "Good luck."

They filed out, leaving a worried Professor McGonagall to watch first. At first she was silent, but then she went on to reveal a great number of things – including her regrets for not being a good enough head of house to be able to tell when her own lions were being abused or neglected at home. After that she went on to brag to Daisy about her grades, and then how she had competition in the form of Hermione Granger, a first year.

It was then Professor Flitwick's turn, which followed in suit, including his regrets about not believing her on Halloween and then ignoring her all those times she needed help or a listening ear. After he finished that, he went on to brag about Lily Evans Potter, Harry's mother, and how good she had been at Charms while she'd been in school. A clock struck two, and it was then Professor Snape's turn.

The clock struck three, and she heard Snape get up quietly, and felt his lips press to hers. She felt her heart begin racing, turning off the heart monitor, and her first reaction in four months was to kiss her Potions Professor back.

* * *

*gasp* a Professor and their twelve-year old student! How unthinkable! I'm kidding, I'm kidding! I couldn't help it, I'm sorry!

Please reveiw and let me know what you think! input and suggestions are welcome!


	12. April's Fool

Hooray for April Fool's Day! I couldn't resist, guys, and I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as I did to write it!

Insert the usual disclaimer here.

* * *

**March-April 1992**

"So, how did you come by the title of the Half-Blood Prince?" Daisy asked confused to Professor Snape in his office.

"Well, I am a half-blood," he said calmly, "My mother was a pure-blooded witch from the Prince lineage, which is known for its excelled duelists and Potion makers."

"Well, perhaps a secret code then, to ensure it's the other in case I open up the second level of projection?" she asked, and he narrowed his eyes. "The second level means that the projector can take someone or some animal with them as they project. The third level is projecting into the future, I think, but I'm not sure."

"I see," he said calmly, and was silent for a bit. "Perhaps… an alteration of an older code I had with a friend."

"Okay," she said considering.

"In a bed of Daisies, there is a frog," he said calmly.

"And that frog is the Half-Blood Prince," she finished with a grin, and he nodded. "I like it. But why is it a frog?"

"It's that custom?" he asked, "And besides, we don't want them figuring out what house I'm from if it's not me."

"but frogs are so ugly!" she protested, and he raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, so you don't think I'm ugly?" he asked, and she blushed. "Hm, now this is interesting. I'll tell you what, you'll take your finals in private, as the staff has agreed, since you missed four months of your education and will most likely still be behind. I've got an extra special final in mind for you."

A week later was April Fool's, and she greatly enjoyed the April Fool's Joke that she managed to play on him – all his clothes were white, with frilly baby blue lace on it. The only way the spell would wear off was at the end of the week. He had been extremely angry and irritable at this, but she could tell that the "Golden Trio", as Snape had so recently dubbed Harry, Ron and Hermione, was enjoying every second of it. to her astonishment, she, too, was the butt of a prank, and it was that she was wearing green robes instead of red all day. The Slytherins were jeering and calling her a Mudblood, while the Lions were calling her a traitor and throwing food at her.

Snape put a stop to it by handing out detentions to the ones who had thrown food at her, scolding them and yelling at them for making a mess and acting like two year olds. He also gave Daisy a detention, but she knew she would be the only one who he would watch over. it came to no shock to him when she got up and almost collapsed again, but he put his fingers to her jugular to check her pulse to find it there and strong.

"What happened?" they heard the other three heads of houses ask.

"Probably just recurrence from her coma," Snape said calmly. "The Healers _did _say that she would probably experience dizzy spells for a while."

"I'm surprised she lasted this long without one," Pomona said startled. "She's done extremely well for someone who was hovering between life and death for four months."

"We should get her to Poppy," Fillius squeaked.

"Since she's an honorary Slytherin," Snape said as he lifted her into his arms. "What? She's wearing green, she's an honorary Slytherin. Merlin knows that only a powerful witch or wizard could have done such a feat with her school robes."

The others stared after him as he walked off, and he carried her straight to the infirmary. She remained there all day, with the twins trying to bring her a toilet seat (she really did love how those two had a wonderful sense of humor), and with Professor Snape sending up a third year Potions textbook for her to read. It was with her nose in this book that the others on staff found her, and they immediately recognized the worn book of their colleague.

"Daisy!" she hear Harry, Ron, and Hermione rush up. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, thanks to Professor Snape," she said calmly. "If he hadn't saved my life in Potions class so quickly back in November, I'd have died or not be able to function right ever again. as it is, I'm already playing catch-up for what the coma erased from my mind, but the teachers have been very supportive of me throughout the whole mess."

"Yeah, but Percy said you almost fell and that Snape caught you," Ron protested.

"Yes, this morning," she said calmly, "Because I have dizzy spells as constant remaining effects of the coma I was in. however, it was in November that I was tripped and my head rammed a bench and then the floor, giving me a double concussion and blunt-force-trauma to the head. If Professor Snape hadn't had that emergency First Aid kit on hand, I'd have died."

"Wow, the Greasy Git actually _cares_," Ron marveled, "Oh wait, it's only because he'll lose his job if he doesn't."

"Leave him alone!" Daisy half-shouted, "Just because you're angry at the way he keeps acting doesn't mean you can just insult him! He's our Professor, he has a reason for everything he does, just like the rest of us! If you've got a problem with how he behaves, then why don't you go talk with him about it man to man? Or are you too much of a coward?"

"Man, they were right," Ron said disgusted, "You _fancy_ him! You may as well have been sorted into the house of the snakes if you love him so much! You should just head down to his office and let him shag you so you can get a better grade!"

"My grade doesn't need helping in his class, thank you!" she yelled angrily as the four heads of houses walked in silently with shock on their faces at what Ron had said. "I haven't gotten anything less than an Outstanding in his class since October of my first year, and that was because I studied my posterior off in the library to try to get a good grade! I've wanted to be a Potions Mistress when I grew up ever since I walked into an Apothecary for the first time on my trip to Diagon Alley as an eleven year old, and if you've got a problem with that, then you can go to Hades for all I care!"

"You're a bloody snake, and nothing more!" Ron shot back angrily, "You're just a bloody, slimy, greasy-hair loving snake!"

"I hope Ares or Kronos gets their hands on you!" she screamed, "And may Aphrodite make sure to give you Tartarus when you hit puberty!"

"Stupid bigot!" Ron yelled, "In case you forgot, he _hates _Gryffindors! Why do you think he was trying to kill Harry at that Quidditch match?!"

"And what would you know about curses and counter-curses to accuse me of such, Weasley?" he said darkly, and the trio wheeled around to face four angry heads of houses.

"And while we're at it, what makes you think you can come in here and aggravate a patient that is trying to rest and recover?" Minerva said appalled, "I'm very disappointed in you three."

"Hear Hear," Fillius and Pomona agreed.

"As for you, Miss Dare, detention every night for three months for such language," Snape said coldly, "I don't know if the others understood what you were talking about, but I most certainly did."

"Severus?" Minerva asked confused.

"I'll explain later," he said curtly as Quirrel walked in. "Don't you have a detention to see over, Quirinus?"

"S-s-s-Sev-ver-r-rus," he stuttered terrified, "I-I-I w-was w-w-w-wondering i-i-if you c-could h-help me w-with a p-problem…"

"I'll help you when you answer the question I asked you in St. Mungo's over Miss Dare's unconscious body," he snapped. "And I want a _verbal _answer in front of her as well, and may Zeus take pity on you if you don't answer me before the end of the year."

"Severus!" Minerva yelled in shock, and he sneered in her direction. "Oh, oh, he's mad."

"You three, out," Snape snarled pointing at the door and glaring at the trio of first years.

They scurried out, with Quirinus, Fillius, and Pomona on their heels. Only the lion and snake heads of Houses remained. Snape then went on to explain that Zeus, Ares and Hades were Greek Gods, Aprodite a Greek Goddess, Kronos was their Titan father, and Tartarus was the Greek version of the seven pits of hell. The elderly lioness gaped as Snape stormed out of the room with an aura to match a Greek Fury.

* * *

I couldn't resist to do a prank, but I didn't want a prank war just yet. Let me know what you think about the pranks!

Please review! Prank ideas and constructive critisism (but no flames) are always welcome!


	13. Exams

Still don't own Harry Potter.

Thanks to my reviewer! It made me feel so good!

* * *

**May-June 1992**

"Quill's down," Snape said at the end of the final for the first years. "Quill's _down_ Miss Granger."

Hermione put her quill down as she finished the sentence and he summoned the papers to his hand as they all began looking around to see how the others thought they did. The Slytherins were smug, but the Gryffindor house was terrified.

"Tut tut, only one of you got number ten right, I specifically told you the difference between Aconite and Wolfsbane on the first day of class," he scowled, "Ah, no, two of you got it right. And your lack of attention is horrible, is this what Professor McGonagall can do best for her precious lion cubs? You're a disgrace to the names of witches and wizards!"

"I'll bet Potter flunked it," Malfoy snickered, "He hasn't been here to study, not that he'd do it anyways!"

"is there something you'd like to announce to the class, Mister Malfoy?" Snape said sourly, "Or perhaps you'd like me to grade the exams right now and tell all of you what your grades are while you miss on the next exam and fail it for not showing?"

"No, sir," Malfoy said quickly, "I was just wondering if Potter studied."

"Study habits are each student's own concern," Snape snapped, "Now, you'd all be wisest to get out of my classroom before I hex one of you for failing my class!"

The Gryffindors filed out, but Malfoy's loud "I'll bet it was Longbottom" was loud and clear for everyone as they went off to their separate tests. Daisy and her fellow Gryffindors, and the Slytherins, filed in as the first years filed out, and she smirked as she sent a hex at Malfoy's butt, causing him to sprout a ferret tail.

He wasn't for the wiser, either, and the Gryffindors were snickering and laughing at who they claimed was Filch. She walked in calmly, and Snape leered at her as she cast him an innocent smile. She was completely dumbfounded by the time her test began. Snape was calling them out one by one and drilling them on what they knew from his lectures, and it took up the entire time. Daisy's name wasn't called, and the others began snickering at her for their knowing that she was probably going to end up failing the class. Snape was walking around after he finished, and looking and breathing down their necks. She found that she was able to work better as he did so, and completed the test with ease, even though hers was longer, and it was to no shock that her test was the last one to be finished.

"Now," Snape said as the bell rang, "Miss Dare, you will stay behind. Your one-on-one test will be held during lunch. The rest of you, get out."

There was a chorus of "ooh", "Oh", and any other variant that the others would make that meant that they thought she was in trouble. The twins were looking at her sorrowfully and as if they were praying that she survived. Snape pulled out a vial of a potion, and a second potion.

"Drink this," he said calmly, and she drank the Veritaserum. "Now, tell me what you smell in this second potion."

"Iodine, Roses, and-and you, sir," she said confused.

"Do you know what potion I had you drink?"

"No."

"Do you know the name of the Potion you just smelled?"

"No, sir."

"Do your parents beat you?"

"No, sir. My stepbrothers do."

"How badly do they treat you?" he asked, and the look in her eyes grew sorrowful as well as blank.

As she told him, he paled, and cringed in fear and worry. He shook his head – it was phsycological abuse that was going on in Daisy's household, on a much worse scale than the evil step-mother did in Disney's _Cinderella_. And that was saying something since the woman was a perfect lady but still managed to destroy the poor girl's heart and dream. He swallowed before giving her the antidote, and she looked up at him confused.

"most of that was a little Extra credit," he said calmly, "Let's not mention this to anyone, yes?"

"Yes, sir," she said obediently but confused. "Sir?"

"Yes?"

"Can-if I can get away from home this summer-can I come to your house, please?" she asked, and he nodded before opening the door for her.

O.O.O.O.O

"Severus," Dumbledore said calmly, "what's wrong?"

"It's psychological abuse!" Snape yelled, "They're worse than the evil stepfamily in _Cinderella_! They're killing her with neglect, lack of love, and by making her do everything around their house!"

"Severus," Minerva said coldly, "What did you do?"

"Me? Nothing!" he yelled, "I've done nothing to her!"

"What Minerva means, Severus," Dumbledore said calmly, "Is how did you figure this out?"

"How do you think? I asked her in private!" he yelled angrily, "I made it her final portion of her exam in Potions!"

"Severus," Minerva scowled, "Students like her don't just spill everything like that. You did something to force her to."

"To Hades with what you lot think!" Snape yelled, and they jumped in shock. "She's getting out of that house whether you like it or not! She'll die if she stays there another summer!"

"Severus, we can't do anything," Fillius squeaked sadly, "Unless she is being physically or mentally abused-!"

"SHE _IS, _DAMN IT, FILLIUS!" Snape roared at the top of his lungs, and the rest of the staff room cringed in fear at his rage.

"Severus," Pomona began fearfully.

"DON'T EVEN START WITH ME, POMONA! I'M NOT AN IDIOT, I'M A FIRST-HAND SURVIVOR OF CHILD ABUSE, I KNOW WHAT THE HELL I'M TALKING ABOUT!" he roared and they all froze as he realized what he'd just yelled out.

"There are muffling charms," Albus assured at Snape's pale complexion paling further than ever before, even on the night Lily Potter had died. "None of the students heard."

"Thank you, Albus," Snape sighed and returned a little closer to his normal alabaster. "she _will _be leaving that hell hole, even if I have to go to the Muggle Authorities."

"We cannot step in," Albus said sadly, "We are forbidden from doing so unless it is physical abuse, my boy. However, _you _can go to them and tell them that you feel that something isn't right in the home and that there are things to be desired."

"I intend to," Snape snarled, "And they'll regret the day that they ever made Severus Tobias Snape an angry wizard."

"If they refuse to cooperate, send us an owl," Minerva said, "We want to help."

"I'll be getting _Peeves _first," Snape scowled, "But yes, you will be my second round of the ten plagues that we will be recreating."

"Oh dear," Pomona said fearful. "What exactly does this entail?"

Snape smiled a smile so terrifying that the room literally dropped to a temperature below freezing.

* * *

So, what do you think it will entail? Exactly what it sounds like of course!

I'm having fun with this fic! But I'm also stuck on chapter... 39! It sucks... cause she's in the hospital wing again in that chapter!

Anyhow, review please! PM's are also welcome for ideas, and I promise to give you credit!


	14. Safety First

Still don't own Harry Potter.

* * *

**August 1998**

"How did you find me?" Daisy breathed as they finally broke the embrace. "How did you know where I was hiding?"

"It wasn't that hard," he smirked as he began writing on a notepad with a pen Agatha had handed him, "You've always come here every summer after I threatened your parents. Now, if I recall correctly, I heard from a little birdie that you've got an Underground Railroad of sorts going with a man by the name of Fidelius."

"Ah," she grinned, "So it's over then?"

"Yes, the Emancipation Proclamation has been signed," he smirked as he wrote quickly, "And the confederates are sulking. I recall you saying something about Fidelius?"

"Yes, shall we go alert him?" she asked as she went to grab her cloak and wand sheath and wand.

He smirked and nodded as she put on her "battle armor". She went to him and they ran down the road back out towards the way of the train station.

She stopped as they reached a park, and she sat down on a bench and sighed. He sat next to her, confused, and she began explaining her elaborate scheme. There were eight houses that were under the Fidelius charms, each one with a dozen or so Muggle born witches or wizards inside of it. The secret keeper of the first house was inside the second house. The secret keeper of the second house was inside the third house. The secret keeper of the third house was inside the fourth house, and so on and so forth. And she herself was the secret keeper of the final and eighth house, with the caster of the charm being housed inside the first safe house.

"That is a very elaborate scheme," he marveled as he wrote his words in smoke, "However did you come up with it?"

"Believe it or not, Muggle history books from America," she admitted, "Back in the 1800's, slaves were fleeing their slave-masters and going to the northern states, where slavery was illegal. There were houses on the way there that they could rest in during the day that were run by anti-slavery white people, and it was this series of places that came to be called the Underground Railroad. My idea was based off of them, only with a magical twist to it."

"That's almost one hundred witches and wizards," he marveled as he did the math in the smoke that his wand was conjuring, "However did you manage it?"

"Actually, there was a safe house specifically for married couples," she admitted, "There are more than one hundred hidden."

"Do you realize how many lives you've saved?!" he demanded, standing up as he wrote quickly. "You're-you've got one hundred people who owe you their lives at the risk of your own! Do you realize what the Ministry of Magic will try to do once they get wind of what you've done?!"

"Kill me?" she feared, and he shook his head in awe. "But, but I spoke with a lot of the witches and wizards that I helped put into hiding, and they had also been secret keepers for other safe houses with other Muggle borns in them! There's at least twelve other safe houses with a dozen witches and wizards in them, and that's not including the ones that have secret keepers in them!"

"Do you realize how many hundreds of lives you've saved?" he asked in the smoke, and she shook her head. "Merlin, Daisy, you're a war heroine! You're a regular Joan of Arc!"

"Um, thanks?" she asked just before he apparated her to the final safe house. "Oh. Right."

"I'll wait here," he wrote calmly before transfiguring his robes to a dark green. "So they don't think I'm a Death Eater."

"Good idea," she blushed before opening the door. "Guys! The War's over!"

"Who won?" a witch in red asked with a child on each of her hips. "Who won?"

"Harry," she beamed and cast a powerful Sonorus charm, "Voldemort's gone, guys. You can come out of hiding now. Most of the Death Eaters have been rounded up. Snape was a spy for the light."

There were loud whoops for joy before they went to hug her and apparate away, some to other safe houses and others to their homes. She took Snape's hand and apparated him to the next safe house in line, where they repeated the process after hearing the address from one of the wizards. This process was repeated until finally everyone in all the safe houses was gone, and it was almost dark.

"Do you realize how many lives you've saved?" he wrote quietly, "so many witches and wizards owe you their lives…."

"We all owe you our lives as well, you know," she said calmly, "Harry never would have been able to fulfill his prophecy if it weren't for you."

He smiled before apparating her back to a road near Spinner's End. he led her back to his house, leading her in and showing her where he hid the spare key, and then he went off into the kitchen to cook some dinner for them.

"Severus!" he heard from the fireplace, "Severus Snape!"

He went over to the Floo and looked in to find Kingsley Shacklebolt.

"Severus, is there a woman by the name of Daisy Elaina Dare at your house?" he asked, and snape jerked a thumb over his shoulder before tilting his head. "Ah, you still can't talk."

Snape nodded.

"Sorry old boy," Kingsley said, "May I come through?"

Snape stepped back and beckoned a welcome. The Minister of Magic was over in Spinner's End within moments, and he immediately began talking about how his office was suddenly being flooded with letters from family members from people who claimed that their cousins, siblings, spouses, and friends had all been in hiding and how Daisy's name kept coming up in all the letters.

"Yes, she took me to all the safe houses today to let them know the war was over," Snape wrote with his wand, "The looks on their faces was so relieved – but I never thought she could have set up eight safe houses with a dozen each!"

"So many!" Kingsley gasped, "Were any of them secret keepers of other safe houses?"

"Yes, at least two dozen," Snape wrote, "But I'm not sure how many were in those safe houses. Why?"

"I'm going to have a talk with the Board," he said shaking his head, "This many lives indebted to one young woman – the numbers are astounding! It's never been heard of before when they're at that age, except with Misters Potter and Weasley and Miss Granger!"

"Order of Merlin for her, I'm assuming you want?" snape wrote, and Kingsley nodded. "Have fun with that, just make sure Rita Skeeter goes to Azkaban."

"Oh?" Kingsley asked, and Snape piqued an eyebrow.

"She is an illegal animagus," he wrote, "A blue beetle. It's been how she keeps getting her dirt about all of the people at Hogwarts in the 1994-95 school year, and how she keeps getting dirt on all of us war heroes."

"Well, I'll be sure to get my hands on her," Kingsley snarled, "I look forward to bringing that little vermin to justice for what she's done to Harry, Hermione, Hagrid, and Albus!"

"If she writes one word about me, I'll kill her," Snape swore in blood red writing.

"And I won't stop you unless it's the killing curse," Kingsley promised, "That bitch is trouble!"

"Umbridge used a blood quill on students in the 1995-96 school year," Snape wrote, "Oh, and there are also a number of things wrong with Lockhart."

"Gilderoy?" Kingsley asked, and Snape nodded.

"Ask Potter what happened to him, he'll tell you," Snape promised, "Tell him I sent you. Oh, and try to keep me out of the papers for the next month – I'm going to _try _to settle down."

"and start a family?" Kingsley whispered, and Snape nodded. "Wow, good luck. With your reputation, I have no doubt that there won't be a problem."

"I've already got a witch in mind," Snape wrote and looked upstairs where Daisy was now taking a shower. "And she's already in my house."

"Daisy Dare?" Kingsley asked, and Snape nodded. "What brought that on?"

Snape smiled before pulling out a penseive and tapping his wand to his temple and bringing out an extremely long amount of memories. Kingsley watched as five more joined the first, and the two joined memory lake together.

* * *

What do you think brought it on? Well, it's a long and difficult story... But I'll try my best to bring back flashbacks as much as possible to explain!

BTW, Luna's a projector as well. Please review! Ideas are welcome and will be accredited to you!


	15. Change of Pace

Still don't own Harry Potter.

* * *

**July-August 1992**

"Professor Snape!" Daisy beamed as she ran down the road after her Potions Master, who was turning around to face her. "They said yes!"

"Hm? Oh," he realized as he saw her packed school trunk and the extremely large backpack that she was carrying, "They'll let you leave?"

"Permanently, they said!" she beamed, "But they said I had a week to pack all my things, so I packed everything all day long yesterday and ignored their orders and screaming so I could hurry up and see you today!"

"Did you grab all your textbooks?" he asked, and she nodded.

"I left behind most of my Muggle attire to do it, but I tried to cram it all in," she said holding out her large backpack. "I was under the impression you cast an extension charm on one of the two?"

"Yes, your trunk," he said calmly, "It would only work if you were packing to leave your house for good, though. However did you manage?"

"They screamed that I had nowhere to go, so I screamed that I'd rather die than live with them any longer," she shrugged, "Which is true. I was also kind of hoping you could help me out…"

"Ah, permission slip?" he asked, "I'm not your guardian."

"No, but I tricked my dad," she said calmly, "You see, I told him it was a paper that relinquished guardianship of me to anyone of his choice."

"Did he specify?" Snape asked, and she nodded.

"He wanted the man who sent the howler to be my guardian," she said calmly, and Snape's eyes widened in shock, "Turns out, dad didn't hate me as much as he let on. he just hated my powers that I had because of mom. I told him that this was a final request from me, and he signed it, telling me that if I ever received something that needed a guardian's permission, to let him know where I was, if I was still alive, and that he'd find me."

"So, he only hated you because you were a witch?" Snape asked, and she nodded, but her eyes were sorrowful. "there's more."

"He said that if I ever sent him anything to do with magic again, he'd kill me. he said that even though he was my father, he was happy that my mother was gone and that he was free to-to starve me whenever he wanted."

"If I ever get my hands on his neck," Snape snarled but shook his head. "But I digress! This is very good news, and I know just the place you can go to."

"Your house isn't safe for me," she said, and he nodded. "Okay, so a place down the road?"

"Correct, and a very bright witch you are," he smirked, "And much better behaved than that know-it-all Granger."

"Thank you, sir!" she beamed, "so, what are we going to do this year with the basilisk on the loose?"

"Hm? Ah, another premonition?" he asked, and she nodded. "Well, let's see… don't go anywhere without a mirror, that's for sure. But, if things go from bad to worse and if the Board of Governors steps in, you need to be extremely careful, and don't break a single rule."

"Sir, what about studying? I know I'm really far behind, but how am I supposed to study over the summer?" she asked confused and he smirked. "Uh-oh, I see a loophole."

"Yes, as long as an adult is in the same building as you, then you may practice since you are in their jurisdiction," Snape said calmly, "It is highly advised against to give the pure-bloods such an advantage, but I'm sure the Ministry will understand your dilemma."

"So, what you're saying is that with you watching over me, I can catch back up?" she asked, and he nodded. "Yes! No more failing and sitting in with the first years!"

"Enough, little cub," he said as he walked up his driveway. "Come, get inside and we'll work on Professor Flitwick's class first, and then McGonagall's. Herbology will have to wait until a later date when we have a greenhouse available."

Over the course of the month and a half until her trip to Diagon Alley, she stayed with a neighbor of Snape's named Agatha and she caught up with all her schoolwork at Snape's house while he watched and ensured nothing went wrong. With her Defensive Spells he was able to tell where she was going wrong and was very easily able to guide her through the proper way to do the spells. She was just thinking that he would make a wonderful teacher when an owl tapped at his window.

"Doesn't miss a thing, that man," Snape said calmly, "This part's for you."

"Oh, no!" she wailed, "I have no money for books!"

"Nonsense," Snape scoffed, "As long as I go to your parents, they'll have no choice but to give you the money or get hexed."

"What do you mean?" she asked, and he went to look at the list. "Who's our new teacher?"

"Ugh, if it's who I think it is, then I'm probably going to kill him before the end of the year if you don't hold me back," Snape snarled. "These books are _not _cheap – he's probably just doing this for more publicity, the fool! Doesn't he know that job's cursed?!"

"But you want it," she protested, and he looked at her. "I think you'd make a _wonderful _Defense teacher!"

"Thank you," he said gruffly, "But the headmaster insists upon waiting until something vital comes along that I'm the only one left. Come, I feel in the mood to terrorize your parents."

She smiled before grabbing her school bag and dashing out after him as he grabbed his wand and put a sneer so terrifying on his face that she knew her parents would cave without a second thought. As they reached her old home, a large dog snarled from the front yard, and Snape glared at it so coldly it cringed and ran away with its tail between its legs.

"Dare!" he yelled as he pounded on the door. "Open up!"

"What?" Daisy's stepmother snapped as she opened the door. "Oh, it's _you_. What do you want?"

"Your proper duty," Snape snarled, and the woman took a step back. "Your daughter's list for her school books is in, and as her parents, it's _your _duty to pay for them."

"Forget it," she snapped before he put his foot in the doorway. "Go away!"

"No, or do I need to remind you of the red letter I sent you?" Snape snarled, and she paled and took a step back. "Yes, the one that was loud enough to blow out your eardrums, I did that on purpose."

"How much?" she asked, and he tilted his head. "How much money are the books?"

"They're rather expensive this year, but in your money," he considered, "I'd gather it's about one and a half thousand pounds."

"Damn you, girl!" she snarled before realizing who was there. "Fine! Here, take it!"

She thrust a wad of cash into Snape's hand, who held it out for Daisy to take and count. She counted it fearfully to find that it was actually three thousand pounds that had been given to them. She nodded before Snape sent one final sneer at the woman and hissed out a very dark promise that he would be back at the same time the next year for the same reason. He led her to an empty park and held out his hand. She handed him the money and he stuck the wad in his pocket before holding it out again. She took it tightly and he apparated her to Diagon Alley.

* * *

So, she's out. I figured that I was tired of writing about abuse after abuse after abuse. So, I gave myself a change of pace.

Please review to let me know what you think! Ideas are welcome and will be accredited to you!


	16. Flourish and Blotts

I still don't own Harry Potter.

I'm sorry it took so long to get back, I've been busy with school, and will only keep getting busier!

Thanks to my reviewers, and also... I think you'll like this part.

* * *

**August 1992, Same Day**

"So, now that all that's done with," Snape said as they reached Diagon Alley, "We'll go to Gringotts and get the money exchanged first. Remember, give the goblins as much respect as you possibly can, and try to compliment them. Here, give me some and watch me go first."

"Okay, what then?" Daisy asked, and he rolled his eyes. "Oh, we're going to set me up a bank account?"

"Yes, that's exactly right," he nodded before realizing something. "What courses did you take as electives?"

"Um, Divination and Care of Magical Creatures," she said warily, "Why?"

"_why_ did you sign up for that idiot woman's class?" he asked appalled, "she predicts a grim every bloody year, and not a one has died to date within the year's time!"

"Well, everyone has their off days," Daisy said carefully, "And besides, it's a blow-off class! Easy as pie, no problem! Especially since – well, you know."

"Well, I hope you know what you're doing," Snape scowled, "That woman-she's the one who put our half-blood brat on the road he is going on right now to fulfill."

"A prophecy?" Daisy whispered, and he nodded gravely. "Wow! About – you-know-who?"

"Yes," he said gravely as they reached the bank.

They both exchanged the money, and she was as respectful as she could possibly think of being, which was extremely easy for her since she was forced to be because of her stepfamily. The goblin's smile didn't perturb her one bit, as Snape knew it should have for her first time in Gringotts, and with his help she managed to get into the Johnson family vault to join what she'd transferred over from Muggle money. Or rather, she would have if she wasn't so shocked and didn't have her school books in mind. she instead grabbed about half of what she'd transferred (which was still a lot) and put it in the vault before leaving and following her Potions Master down to the Prince/Snape family vault. His wasn't as full as hers, but he still had quite a bit of money.

As they resurfaced, they saw Molly Weasley hurrying over with a small eleven year old trying to keep up at her side. They looked off to their left to find that Hermione was on the steps, with Hagrid and Harry coming out of Knockturn Alley. Snape shook his head before leading her away to the Apothecary, and then to the pet shop.

"Honestly, why didn't you get one your first year?" he asked, and she gave him a look that said it all for him. "Fine."

To their astonishment, a phoenix flew down to land on her shoulder, and chirped a loud shrill note happily before flying back to grab something from its perch. They stared, and the shopkeeper stared even longer at the orange bird before shaking his head in shock and rubbing his eyes.

"What?" she asked confused, and Snape closed his mouth as he realized he was gaping. "What?"

"Phoenixes choose who they are familiars to," the owner said in shock, "Jade has never, not a once, landed on _anyone's _shoulder before, much less even sang a note so happy like that! I really hate to charge so much for her, but they're extremely rare creatures."

"How much?" she asked, and he gave her a sorry look.

"Five thousand galleons," he said sadly, and her jaw dropped.

"Man!" she groaned, "Sorry, Jade, but I can't get you right now. But I'll be back when I can pay for you, I promise!"

The bird chirped happily before putting what it had fetched from its perch onto her hand, and then plucked one of its tail feathers and put it in the same location. She smiled, and pulled out something from her pocket, a small knut.

"Is it okay?" she asked, and the shopkeeper nodded.

"Yeah, sure, we'll mark her to show that she's on layaway," he said kindly, "We only do that for students who aren't of age yet, though."

"Thank you," she breathed relieved. "Will her price go up?"

"Probably," he said sadly, "But I'll make a note that you came by when she was at five thousand galleons. If you come back and put at least forty galleons down on her, she's technically going to be sold to you at the same price as today as long as you come and make payments every year until she's paid off."

"Thank you so much!" she breathed before petting the bird and giving it a slightly awkward hug. "I'll be back, I promise."

It let out another note, a sad one, as she left the pet shop with Professor Snape behind her. he was silent the entire way to Madame Malkin's Robe Shop. She was silent as well, and very angry at the state that Daisy was in (not that any of the three of them could control what went on in the Dare Household, and they knew it) and sold her the robes for cheap again. Snape said nothing as he followed her out, and it was at this point that they were forced to go book shopping. Flourish and Blotts was the next stop, and it was to their astonishment that Hagrid was making his way into the store. Daisy followed in carefully to find Hagrid pulling apart two men – one with red hair and the other with long platinum blonde. She knew immediately who they were – the Weasley family father and Malfoy Sr., respectively, and they were arguing.

"No surprise there," she said calmly. "Hey, guys!"

"You missed it!" they yelled, "Whoa, what's Snape doing here?"

"Oh, he's my escort," Daisy said calmly, "My dad and stepmom hate magic. I'm a half-blood, you see, and my mom – well, dad's always saying how he was glad that he got rid of her."

"Yikes," Ron shuddered, "So, how'd they react to the Greasy git?"

"Terrified," she beamed, "He sent them a Howler last year since I didn't have the proper ingredients for school, and oh, were they mad. They kicked me out of the house, not that that's a bad thing in this case, but I'm glad. I've lived with a friend of my mom's ever since, who only knows that I go to the same school that Professor Snape, her neighbor, teaches at."

"You live in the same neighborhood as Snape?" they asked appalled, "Man! What's that like?"

"Insanity," she said honestly, "But it's pretty dull if you don't include the fact that I'm now working on fifth year potions."

"But, you're going into your third year!" Hermione protested until she saw Snape for herself from across the store. "Oh…"

"I knew it," Snape scowled as Hermione and Daisy approached him with Hermione's worried, and very wary, parents, "I'm going to kill him. Daisy, make sure I don't do anything stupid this school year."

"Yes, sir!" she saluted before hugging him around the middle. "So, firsthand Gidiot Lock-fart's books or hand-me-downs?"

"You're as bad as I was at your age," he smirked, "Mark my words, he'll be gone before the end of the year, I promise. If not because of the curse on the job, then it will be because of me."

"What about Potter?" Daisy asked, "He _did _kill Quirrel last year."

"Thank Merlin," Snape breathed. "That bas – I, I mean, _coward_, was nothing but a constantly fainting pain in my side. Salazar please help me if Lockhart turns out the same."

"Something tells me he will," Daisy growled as she turned to the man in question. "Can I hex him?"

"Now? No," Snape said calmly, "But you can have more than just my permission to… ah, _act out_ in his class. Perhaps a little demonstration of what I've been teaching you over the summer?"

Daisy whooped for joy before going to buy all her books, with just enough money left over for her down payment on Jade the Phoenix.

* * *

The Phoenix comes back later, really. Anyhow, this chapter was kind of a filler, but it also showed a few things about some stuff.

Please review!


	17. Dueling Club

I still don't own Harry Potter!

* * *

**October-November 1992**

Snape sneered as he faced Daisy on Halloween night. This was their way of getting rid of their frustrations about the holiday, and Dumbledore glanced at the two warily before waving a small flag to signal them to begin. Daisy was in nothing but her robes, wielding a sword and shield. Snape, however, was wielding an extremely long and jagged sword, with a large round shield on his other arm, and the entirety of his body, except his legs, covered in jet-black armor.

The two exchanged sword blows, both using what gamers would call "L-Targeting" techniques. It was a stalemate, until she parried and used her sword to snip the twines holding his armor on him. Lockhart had also been missing that night, but any doubts they had about who it could be vanished as soon as they saw the black robes underneath with the black sleek hair pulled back into a low ponytail. He swung his sword and she parried upwards to knock his helmet off of him and then to kick it out of the ring.

He shook this off and remained stoic as he held his shields up (both mental and physical) and his jagged sword ready to strike. He began dodging and weaving and using a similar fighting style that she was using and was angrily trying to fight a student younger and faster than he was. It had taken a while, but he finally managed to fight her until they were both covered in sweat.

By now, all the students were staring up at the Gryffindor who dared to fight their dire Potions Master, and that both of them were wielding swords and shields. Daisy smirked before two thestrals burst in, each one with their ears back and glancing at the two in the center of the room. The two opponent humans glanced at each other before mounting their own thestral and then racing each other with forks and knives transfigured into gates that the thestrals had to jump.

Daisy was always getting boxed in by Snape, but she managed to pull out a hollow victory in the form of a tie. They snarled before Snape popped his neck from side to side and then drew his wand. Daisy smiled like the Cheshire cat and brandished her own wand and the two bowed lowly to each other, each one never breaking eye contact.

"Expelliarmus!" they yelled in unison and their spells exploded as they hit each other, causing the Great Hall to transform into a large jungle.

Their eyes widened before they took to the treetops, each one dodging and ducking, using the new terrain to their advantage. Daisy slipped on a tree trunk just as a vine snapped underneath Snape, causing him to land on a pile of bananas. The two glared at each other before starting to wrestle, in which he defeated her all the time. Daisy was knocked into the water, and a large pile of large transfigured alligators were soon trying to snap at her.

She leapt just out of the range of each of them and summoned a spear before throwing it at a mass of growing fruits and nearly hitting Snape's head. They both saw a waterfall and leapt off of it daringly trying to outdo the other, and then turning around and beginning to climb up it with their bare hands and without magic. They reached the top and began riding the tree trunks and branches like a couple of fully clothed Tarzans, and landing in perfect synchronization. The two saw the one thing that would fully settle the score: a large leopard.

They both snarled, stalking their new prey like the cat itself, and it looked up in confusion before snarling at them both. Daisy ran to a hollow tree, and beaming, yelled out a loud "Zugoar!" Snape would have cringed in fear if it hadn't been one of his students' voices, but the leopard cringed in fear and fled from the two. Snape snarled before darting over to her.

"I believe we are at an impasse," he conceded through grit teeth.

"Perhaps next Halloween then?" she grinned, and he huffed and nodded.

"Next Halloween," he said as they shook hands, each one with a very cunning and mischievous smile or sneer on their face.

The students feared for the worst as the two went their separate ways. Dumbledore looked between the two, simply smiled and announced that it was a tie since the two were both ready to go back to their feast and seats. He then announced that they would be continuing it in her fifth year when they had both had plenty of fun and entertainment to provide a proper basis for another duel of such a magnitude. Daisy and Snape nodded before she sighed and put her head in her hands, and a far-off look arrived in her eyes. He knew what that meant, and what it was, and why, and Lockhart turned to him excitedly.

"That was wonderful, Severus! You simply _must _join me and be my assistant in the dueling club that I'm starting up in a week and a half!" he gushed, "I must admit, such a long amount of time fighting physically with someone half your age really does take its toll on you, doesn't it? And even though you smell horrendous right now, I'm sure that got out a bit of your animosity towards the Gryffindors, yes, didn't it?"

"Gilderoy, do shut up," Snape snapped, "Right now you're more annoying than any Gryffindor I can think of."

"Even more so than Harry Potter?" Fillius mouthed, and Snape nodded towards him.

"Speaking of whom, where is Mister Potter tonight?" Pomona asked, "I don't see him."

"Probably slinking around somewhere," Snape scoffed, "Merlin knows that boy and his dunderheaded lackeys go looking for trouble, as proof by Miss Granger actually going to look for the troll in her first year. Pah! What on earth was that girl thinking? Stupid little chit, she is, for an insufferable know-it-all!"

"Honestly, Severus, one would almost think that's a compliment!" Gilderoy scoffed.

"I can name twenty students in each house that are smarter than you, Gilderoy," Snape snapped, "And that's not an easy feat. If I didn't know any better, I'd almost go as far to say that _a student _would be able to best you in a duel."

"Severus!" Gilderoy laughed, "So naïve! I would be happy to duel your best duelist and I will still win with only first year spells!"

"Oh, we'll see about that," Snape sneered, "You against a student during the first meeting of your little dueling club. I'll decide who it is once I see who shows up."

"Wonderful!" Gilderoy laughed, "Be prepared to lose, Severus!"

"Want to bet on that?" Snape snarled, and Gilderoy's eyes widened. "If my student and I win, you give each of use one thousand Galleons. If we lose, we both give you one thousand galleons."

"Severus!" Minerva shrieked, "Such crudity!"

"And since when have you been a gambler, Snape?!" Charity Burbage yelled down the table and the hall was silent as they watched the professors argue. "I thought you said your parents raised you against it?!"

"My parents raised me against a lot of things!" Snape yelled back, "I do what I please, Charity, now butt out of my business before it's _you _that my prized summer student duels!"

"Severus!" Minerva squealed, "What on earth would possess you to teach a student over the summer?!"

"A coma," he shot back, and the teachers were all quiet.

"You can't be serious!" Minerva finally yelled in shock, "You can't be serious! She'll end up _killed_, what if she faints, what if she hits her head again and forgets all the spells we've taught her again?!"

"Relax, Minerva," Snape shot back, "What do you think I did all summer? I caught her back up to the level she's supposed to be at in all her classes except History of Magic!"

"You scare me," Fillius squeaked, "I don't want to see what student you're talking about when they're having a bad day."

"Coward," Snape smirked like a madman. "And no, the apocalypse isn't coming. Not tonight at least."

O.O.O.O.O

"A Dueling Club," Snape snarled a week later as he walked towards the Great Hall with Daisy at his side coming from her "detention" with him. "Pah! If it weren't for Lockhart's stupidity and job, I'd be teaching this entirely by myself! Well, with you helping as needed."

"Thank you, sir!" she beamed, "But why me?"

"You're the best duelist aside from myself I can think of inside the student body," he said calmly as they neared it, "And literally the only one alive who has fought me to a standstill that wasn't taught defense by Professor Dumbledore himself."

"Was that a compliment?" she asked appalled.

"Consider your private tutor," he said before going to the front where Lockhart was preening himself like an idiot.

Daisy listened in half-interest as Lockhart rambled. She was only here to watch Snape duel another teacher and see just how strong her Potions Master was. The minute she saw him perform his _Expelliarmus_ spell, she felt a sensation in her gut that turned them to mush. She was astonished at his raw masculine power, and even more so at how far back it had sent Lockhart flying, as well as his wand across the Great Hall. She gasped in awe at his performance and looked at him with pride as the others were watching their Defense Professor.

Snape's eyes turned to her to find hers stuck on him, and they locked eyes for mere moments before he turned back to Lockhart to snarl and sneer at the buffoon.

"Warthog-face buffoon!" she yelled, but her words were drowned out by the other girls squealing out in delight as he was summoning Neville forwards.

"No, Lockhart, we'll be sending what's left of him up to the hospital wing in a matchbox," Snape said calmly, "Perhaps a different set of pairs? Dare and Granger, perhaps, followed by Malfoy and Potter?"

"A wonderful suggestion!" Lockhart boomed, before realizing it, "But why three Gryffindors?"

"I want to see just how much Miss Dare remembers after her four month coma last year," he sneered calmly as she approached him. He immediately was close, his breath tickling her ear. "Focus. Use what I taught you over the summer. Disarm, and a few special ones if you want to humiliate her."

"Professor, can you show me that again?" Hermione asked fearfully, and Snape went back to murmuring into Daisy's ear.

"I saw how you were looking at me, attack her as though she were about to try to kill me," he said, and Daisy was immediately filled with a rage so strong her magic was pulsing. "Good girl, now go get her."

"Expelliarmus!" Daisy yelled, and Hermione had no chance to defend herself as she was thrown across the Great Hall in its entirety, ramming against a wall and her wand going straight to Daisy's hand.

"Not bad for a lioness," Snape sneered, which she knew was his way of publicly saying to her _I'm proud of you, my young apprentice. _"Not bad, young Padowan."

"You watch Star Wars?" she asked as she turned around.

"Watch your back," he said, and she wheeled around dangerously to disarm Lockhart and sent him sprawling with his pants down. "Detention, Dare!"

"Honestly! Attacking a teacher when his guard is down, and while he's helping someone in your own house is just downright rude and Slytherin of you, Miss Dare!" Lockhart yelled, "Severus, do something!"

"Oh, I'm doing," he said calmly, "I'm thinking of how best to punish her during her detention, even if it is you she humiliated."

There were audible gasps as they all heard what he'd said, and Malfoy was soon on the stage glaring angrily and wielding a transfigured sword. She grabbed a piece of parchment and tore it in half, transfiguring one half into a shield and another into a sword. Within seconds she was again using the L-targeting, and circling around Malfoy, who was swinging the large sword in a very clumsy manner. He, too, wielded a shield, but it was much bigger than he was.

He swung like his sword was an axe chopping someone's head off, and she rolled on the ground to parry and jab her sword against his rear. He yelled and dropped his sword with pain and shock just before she began to duck and weave around him angrily. He snarled before picking up his sword and slashing at her again, grazing her shoulder and drawing blood.

"Enough!" Snape yelled angrily as Daisy dodged backwards and parried to land a hilt-skull ramming blow to Malfoy's head. "Finite Incantatem!"

The two swords and shields were paper again, and Malfoy was feeling dizzy while Daisy's adrenaline was pumping and ready for a fight. Suddenly, as if from nowhere, she heard a large body moving around as if inside the walls, and she began looking around with narrowed eyes. She saw Lockhart pulling up his pants and pulled his underwear so tight he squealed like a girl, only without her wand. She'd gotten stronger over the summer, and Snape narrowed his eyes at her to let her know she needed to stop and get a grip. She took a deep breath and forced her adrenaline to go away just before pulling her face into a mask so emotionless that it rivaled that of Snape's. He wondered vaguely what she was hiding.

"I'm assuming I won since nobody's attacking me," she said emotionlessly, even though she was still pulsing with rage, "Well, thanks for the fun, Professors, but I'm off to go work on homework."

Snape watched her leave with narrowed eyes before turning to the task at hand and healing Malfoy's injury up (which was just his clothes getting shoved up his crack really far) and then turning to sort out Lockhart and Granger. As soon as Lockhart was sorted out, he acted as though nothing had happened, and Snape looked to the back to find that Fillius and Pomona were as pale as he was normally, and that Minerva was holding her hand over her mouth with her eyes glittering with pride and surprise.

"Moving on! Next duel, come on, boys," Lockhart squeaked, "Don't be shy, Harry!"

* * *

So, she attacks a teacher. She's human, and she is stark-raving mad.

Please review!


	18. King of Snakes

Still don't own Harry Potter nor any characters therein.

Thanks to my reviewers! Er, well... reviewer single, I guess... Thanks anyways! *stares at the lack of reviews*

somebody please review!

* * *

**December 1992**

"Happy Christmas, Professor," Daisy said calmly and sweetly as she knocked on his office door at eight on Christmas morning.

"Likwise," he said gruffly, and she tilted her head and held up her gift, her wishes being evident in her eyes. "Ah, follow me."

He led her to his private quarters and opened the door for her. They grinned as they took a look at all the gifts under the tree for the both of them. He went over but stopped as soon as he heard something moving within the walls. They both heard it, and she pulled out a mirror. Snape closed his eyes and began following the sound around before he heard a body hitting the floor. He waited until the sound was gone before he opened his eyes and ran over to her.

To his relief, she wasn't petrified or dead, merely fainted. He carried her over to the couch and laid her down, rubbing her forehead gently and trying to wake her by whispering into her ear that the basilisk had gone upstairs. After a few more minutes of this, he pulled up a chair and leaned over her, rubbing her forehead like a worried parent would to their child.

"And you said you'd make a horrible father," Albus' voice came from behind, and Snape glared over his shoulder. "Is she…?"

"Fainted," Snape said, "I think she saw something, but I'm not sure. We'll have to wait until she wakes to know. And I _would _make a horrible father, and you know it."

"Really? The way you are acting now is very much what a man would do for his ill or frightened son or daughter," Albus said calmly, and Snape remained still. "You've had much practice on the first years, I think you should settle down and start a family once the war is over, my boy."

"It would take a blind woman to marry me," Snape snapped sorrowfully, and Dumbledore shook his head gently.

"Ah, Severus, it seems that all of Misters Potter and Black's insults have finally wormed their way into your subconscious mind," he said sadly. "There is a woman out there, you just need to be patient and wait for her. I think you'll find that you'll have a much stronger bond than you would have been able to have with Lily."

Snape said nothing but looked at the third year on his couch. After a bit, he turned around.

"Do you-do you still have the mirror of Erised?" he asked, and Dumbledore's eyebrows shot up. "I-I need to check to see what-what I see in it."

"Why not ask your good friend Amortentia?" Dumbledore asked, "You seemed to have done that already last year with the one I am speaking of."

"Daisy," Snape realized, "But headmaster, she's young enough to be my daughter!"

"I know," he said calmly, "And please, call me Albus. True love knows no times nor limits, only bounds, and will give you multiple chances if you will take them."

"You-you think that somehow Daisy is the reincarnation of Lily?" Snape asked, and Dumbledore shook his head. "Blast it, Albus, your riddles are driving me mad, in more than one sense of the word!"

"All good things come to those who wait," he said calmly, "Now, please remember that until she-!"

"Until she's of age I can't do anything or it'll be illegal even if it's willing," Snape spat like it was venom and he hated the subject (which he did). "I know. I'm not stupid."

"I never said you were, my boy, I never said you were," Dumbledore soothed, "But also, that aside, I was going to ask you what you thought of her projection ability and to remind you that if a future version of herself comes to tell you something, it is very important that you listen since they will only come to you when she looks for the memory that they are needed most in."

"And when she was a first year?" he asked, "And her second?"

"Complete accidents, but her powers were guiding her nonetheless," Dumbledore said calmly, and Snape bristled. "Now, now, my boy, what seems to be the matter?"

"She saved my life, Albus," he bristled angrily, "When I was five, my father was whipping me to death with a dog chain. If her eleven year old self hadn't intervened, I'd have died. As it was, she was in danger herself since I recall her getting into a fight over the knife and him getting stabbed with it in one of the vital areas."

"Ah, so that is why she was screaming profanities about him," Dumbledore said with his eyes twinkling brightly, "Which would explain your amusement at her words and vulgar language. I assume there is another instance?"

"When Lily died," he murmured, "The next day, I had no idea what to do. She told me that she'd become a spy, so I did. After I did that, I had no clue, and was glaring at the mirror and wanting to destroy it and myself when she stepped in and taught me what it was like to be touched kindly again. She's saved my life more times than she's known, and more times by her future self as well. I'm alive because she was there for me as a projector."

"Ah, yes, that has been the case with a projector and their spouse most of the time," Dumbledore said amused, "Their spouse is in need of their abilities and is saved by the projector, who is in turn saved by their future spouse when they are feeling the most upset as their powers are awakening and blossoming into fruition. Although, at times thus is the case for the projector's close friends as well."

"Albus," Snape groaned just before Daisy began stirring slightly.

"Ah, and that is where I take my leave," he smiled with a mad twinkle in his eyes just before going back to the fireplace. "Happy Christmas, Severus."

"I hate you, Albus," Snape spat as the headmaster vanished into the Floo.

"Mnn… Professor?" Daisy asked quietly, confused.

"Miss Dare, are you alright?" he asked, and she blinked at him before bolting upright.

"The monster!" she yelled, "The Basilisk!"

"You-you saw it?" he asked gravely, and she hugged herself to him tightly like a koala bear.

"It-it was horrible… it-it truly was the king of serpents…" she said terrified and shaking.

"It's gone," he said putting his hand on her shoulder. "It's gone, we're in the dungeons, in Salazar Slytherin's domain – it won't hurt us here. My question is how is it getting around the castle?"

"My question is who let it out," she murmured, "I'm scared! I know I'm a half-blood, but I'm scared! I don't want to die! I don't want to get petrified!"

"Hush child, it's gone now," he soothed. "You did the right thing by using the mirror. I had my eyes closed."

"You did?" she asked pulling away with tears in her eyes, and he nodded. "Did I do something wrong?"

"No, child, that was very brave of you," he murmured as he gently began rubbing her back. "The beast won't be here long. That, I know of for sure. With any luck, Potter or Granger will be the ones to follow in Moaning Myrtle's footsteps."

"Professor!" she wailed, and he smirked, "That's not funny!"

"My apologies," he said gently, and she looked up at him as though he'd just spoken Mandarin Chinese to her. "What?"

"You…" she murmured confused.

"You are one of the few people I apologize to," he said quietly, "There are only two others. Albus, and-and my friend."

"Lily Evans Potter," she said quietly, and he nodded. "What happened to her sister?"

"Married a Muggle, a whale of a man, and produced another whale," he dismissed, "I'm going to laugh if the younger whale's child ends up a witch or wizard."

"Sir?" she asked, and he looked at her, "what was that potion before?"

"Hm? Ah, you won't learn about that one until your sixth or seventh year," he teased and waggled a finger at her. "No, that's a secret. The world's most handy potion for a warthog faced buffoon like Gilderoy."

"Speaking of which," she said curiously, "doesn't he owe us a thousand galleons for kicking his buttox in a duel?"

"Yes, yes he does," Snape said calmly. "I wonder when we'll get it."

"Severus!" a male voice said from the fireplace. "A happy Christmas to you my good man!"

"Humbug!" Snape snapped, and Daisy grinned and forced away a giggle. "If I had a knut for every idiot who went around with 'Happy Christmas' on their lips, I'd be swimming in a pool of galleons!"

"Oh, come now!" Lockhart gleamed, "Surely you want to see your present?"

"Dare I ask?" Snape drawled, "Dare I even bother? If it has anything to do with the colors pink, brown, lilac, turquoise, or magenta, I'll hex you so you're in St. Mungo's until Potter comes of age!"

"No," Lockhart laughed, "Here, my good man! I want to see how that duel will turn out against me and your prized summer pupil! A meeting tonight in the Great Hall, with all the students watching?"

"Not tonight, I'm busy," Snape said, "One of the students who remained behind wishes to spend Christmas with the bat of the dungeons, surprisingly. No, I was thinking the evening of Valentine's day, yes?"

"A splendid idea! Such a perfect way to end the most glorious of the days in February!" Lockhart yelled in triumph! "A _wonderful _idea, Severus, pure genius, I don't know why I didn't think of it myself!"

"Gilderoy, I have a Christmas to get back to," Snape drawled, and the Defense teacher laughed again.

"Very well, you gloomy man! It's no wonder all the students call you a bat!" he laughed, "Here, Happy Christmas!"

Snape glared before staring at the blood-red robes he received.

"I'm going to kill him," Snape snarled, "Here, keep it."

"Thank you, sir!" Daisy beamed before hugging it to her. "And I'll treasure it because it was you who gave it to me!"

"You're the only one who wouldn't burn what I gave them unless it was one of my snakes," Snape said deadpanning before turning back to the gifts under the tree. "Now, I believe that we shall start with what Father Christmas brought us this year, yes?"

* * *

So, what do you think? Is she acting like a love-struck schoolgirl? I kind of aimed for that... but Snape also I want to act as a parent figure until she's old enough that he can transition it from parent-like to sibling-like and then eventually further somehow. I'm still working on that part.

Please review!


	19. Valentine's Day

Still don't own Harry Potter! But this part I had to add because... well, it's just epic once I wrote it! I couldn't bring myself to take it out!

* * *

**Valentine's Day, 1993**

"So, what now?" Daisy beamed to the Golden Trio. "I know Lockhart's got something insane planned for tonight with Professor Snape again. I can't wait to see the dunderhead get humiliated again!"

"Dare!" they heard, and faced an irate Lockhart. "What is the meaning of this?!"

"Sir?" she asked confused, and he held a note aloft right in front of her face.

"This!" he yelled angrily, "What on earth is wrong with you?!"

"I believe that is a question to be pointed at yourself, Gilderoy," Snape said rounding the corner with his nose close to a piece of parchment. "If you don't have a- Oh, what now?!"

"Miss Dare, has so _rudely _threatened me!" Lockhart yelled, and Snape grabbed the piece of paper with a sneer.

"Hm…" he pondered while reading it, "I see no threat. Where is the threat, Gilderoy? Or have you finally gone as mad as the headmaster? I believe it is time to get your eyes checked. Perhaps that smile of yours that you love to show off has caused you to begin to go blind alongside everyone else in the bloody world who fawns over your sickening image."

"Oh, nice one!" Daisy murmured into Harry's ear. "You've got to hand it to him, he really knows his insults!"

"He's a git, what did you expect?" Ron whispered, and Daisy smacked his arm harshly. "Ow!"

"Gilderoy, I see no threat," Snape repeated, "Point out the threat to me, or leave Miss Dare alone. She already gets enough trouble at home as it is, don't make her school life hell or I'll make your life hell."

"Honestly!" Lockhart yelled indignantly, "Why would you defend one of the lions you hate so much?!"

"Because, she reminds me of myself when I was her age," Snape said calmly. "Only she's a Gryffindor chit instead of a Slytherin wizard."

"I look forward to defeating your precious _summer pupil_ tonight!" Lockhart glared angrily, "And I will _make sure _that I win our little bet!"

"Don't count your snakes before they're hatched, Gilderoy," Snape snarled, "Surely you're not _afraid _of a student? Because that's most definitely how you're acting and looking right now!"

"I hope you die, Severus!" Lockhart snapped, and was flown backwards by a powerful bout of accidental magic from Daisy. "OW! You arrogant piece of-!"

"LANGUAGE, GILDEROY!" Snape bellowed, "AND I PITY THE FOOL WHO HAS TO LOOK AT YOU EVERY DAY FOR THE REST OF THEIR LIFE! LONGBOTTOM OVER A CAULDRON IS MORE COMPETENT THAN YOU ARE ON YOUR SMARTEST DAYS!"

"Oh, this is totally wicked," Ron beamed. "I never thought Snape could actually be cool, but I'm seriously considering it right now."

"Miss Dare," Snape fumed almost inaudibly as he whirled around. "I want you to destroy Gilderoy tonight."

"Aye aye, Captain!" she saluted after Lockhart had left, "I won't let you down!"

"You'd better not," he snarled as he passed them angrily and put his nose back to the parchment he had been reading before. "Oh, and Miss Dare – care to enlighten me on the idiot who gave Lockhart his idea for today?"

"I haven't been to the Great Hall yet," Daisy admitted sheepishly. "I was just on my way down there with this lot, sir. Is something wrong?"

"Everything," he snarled and stormed off.

Her day was uneventful, but he was still looking at the parchment as if trying to decide whether to burn it or what to do with it. As it turned out, he was trying to figure out who sent it.

_Professor Snape,_

_You probably don't want to hear me saying this, but your performance at the Dueling Club was superb, and I wish that I were as strong as you are! I'm having a hard time trying to put what I'm feeling into words, but please, sir, with all due respect I will do my best. You see, I feel like a moth drawn to a flame, and I think that flame is, well – you. _

_Please don't misunderstand, I'm not saying that you're destructive – although I won't deny that you can be when you want to – but I think that you are just like a fire. Destructive when you want to be, but you also hold a hidden beauty for those who are willing to look for it. Insects like myself both fear and are awed by the flames, and, to be honest, I feel things around you that I don't feel when you're not around, and I don't mean just fear, sir. _

_You see, it's – it's this part that is the hardest for me to put into words, sir. There are these weird, but seemingly good, feelings that I get when you're around. It's kind of like a portkey pulling behind my navel, but softer and it pulls at my chest as well. I sometimes feel like I'm being squeezed ever so slightly like in preparation for apparition, and that I feel like it belongs that way. _

_Valentine or not, you may count this how you will, sir, but I felt it prudent to get these feelings off of my chest and onto paper._

_Anonymous_

"What are you looking at, Severus?" Lockhart asked, and Snape jerked the parchment away from him protectively. "Well, no need to be rude! Honestly, everyone in the student body except your Slytherin students hates you, and it's no wonder as to why! _This _is why, you daft man! Lighten up, why don't you wear that gift I got you?"

"Because, it is colored for Gryffindor, and Gryffindors are not in my House," Snape spat, "And besides that, I wear black because it is easiest to get the stains out of should something get on it."

After all the classes were over, which involved Snape finally figuring out who sent him the Valentine, the students all filed into the Great Hall once more. Daisy hid her secret of the borrowed sixth year Potions Book that she received from Snape from her fellow students, and hid it under her bed. She sent in to order one of her own, so she could open her own and begin writing in the margins everything that was in his textbook. Once back in the Great Hall, she stared in confusion as a large stage was set up in the place where the Staff Table normally was, and the Staff was seated in chairs along the side walls.

"I hope everyone enjoyed their Valentine's treat!" Lockhart boomed, "Now, there is one final one that a few of my colleagues and I have been betting on since October!"

There was a ripple of confusion as Snape went up behind Daisy and murmured in her ear. She nodded and followed him up to the stage, and Harry's brow, as well as everyone in Slytherin's, furrowed.

"Now, Miss Dare here was in a four month coma last year, I'm told," Lockhart boomed, "However with a lot of help over the summer, I am also told that she is able to duel as well as any other in her year with Professor Snape's help. Although I'm curious, how does this work out in rival houses?"

"We live on the same street," the two said in unison.

"I had nothing better to do during the summer," Snape said coldly, "Well, aside from brewing Potions, but I can have her helping with that as well. Get to the point."

"Yes, well, Ladies and Gentlemen, Professor Snape and I, as well as most of the staff, have made a bet that they think they will win. You see, they think that Miss Dare can defeat me in a duel, and those who bet that I will lose will receive a thousand – yes, you heard me right – galleons each. Also, I will reward Miss Dare with one hundred galleons for every hex that she performs on me," Lockhart boomed, and there was a mass of angry screaming from the witches in the crowd.

"SHUT UP!" Daisy yelled angrily at them, snarling her best Snape snarl. They quieted, and the Gryffindors raised an eyebrow at her attitude. "Thank you, and we aren't done with our little announcement."

"If I win," Lockhart continued, "All those who would have received a thousand galleons if I had lost will give me a thousand galleons. Now, I'm informed that your Potions Professor is not a gambling man, so for him to trust Miss Dare this much is saying a lot about how well he thinks he can teach Defense!"

"Can I kill him?" Daisy asked, and Snape sneered evilly.

"No, I've been informed he falls upon his own sword," Snape whispered in her ear, "No Unforgivable Curses, and whatever you do, _don't _use the Sectumsempra unless you want to become a murderer."

"Got it," she nodded, "Anything else you want to add, Lockhart?"

"Ah, yes, as another part of the bet, I will only be using first year spells, and I will rely on my second year students and the staff to keep me honest about this!" Lockhart boomed happily before turning to Daisy and bowing.

Daisy simply jerked her head (reminding everyone else of Snape again) and then brandished her wand like a sword. She glared, and Lockhart smiled happily as he brandished his own wand at her. she snarled before dodging to the right, having received a play-by-play from her older self who had come a week back in time to warn her the night before.

"Get ready to meet Hades," Daisy yelled happily before casting a stinging hex at his privates.

He squirmed and was sent recoiling backwards as it hit him, and she sent another one to cause his underwear to shrink so that it was extremely tight on him. She flicked her wand again at him to perform a cutting curse, and it hit his left arm. She turned his hair green, then his skin a sickly orange, covered him in boils, and sent him dangling by his ankles. She then turned his teeth black, vanished his clothes layer by layer except for his boxer shorts, which she loosened up for the sake of the idiot perverts out there.

"Ah! I let this happen!" Lockhart yelled angrily.

"How many?" Daisy yelled, and Professor McGonagall yelled out a reply that sent Daisy smiling. "Oh, thirteen spells, huh? Well, that's fourteen hundred galleons on top of the thousand I get for winning this little shindig. But, I digress, I want to have a little more fun with this."

"Dare," Snape warned, and she turned and sent him a look that said she would be fine and knew what she was doing. "Ah, I see."

"Yes, you will," she grinned, and began casting spell after spell at him.

By the time Lockhart was thoroughly defeated, she had racked up enough money to halfway pay for Jade the Phoenix. Granted, she had nearly exhausted her magic in the process, but it had been very much worth it.

* * *

Okay, I know she's getting a little Mary-Sue, but that should be changing, I'm trying to stop that.

Anyways, review please!


	20. Chapter 20

Still don't own Harry Potter or any of its characters! And, as promised, here are the next few chapters since I've been away since before Thanksgiving!

* * *

**March 1993**

"Merlin's beard, Severus!" Lockhart huffed as he lifted the large wad of galleons onto the main table in the staff room. "Your student – ugh! I don't know what spell you taught her to dangle me by my ankles, but I hope nobody else learns it!"

"I didn't teach her that, actually," Snape lied smoothly, "She must have picked it up somewhere. I will not deny that I'm not so sure this is all you owe us."

"What?" Lockhart huffed. "Of course it is!"

"Oh? Then where is the money you owe Miss Dare for the twenty-five hexes that she performed on you? Have you already forgotten that you owe her thirty-five hundred galleons?" Snape asked, "I am not a man to forget debts, nor grudges for that matter."

"Fine," Lockhart huffed, "This is just for the staff. I see no reason to get her the money just now…"

"Lockhart, she did that so she can pay for her books," Snape snapped, "I had to threaten her parents to pay for all your textbooks, and they tried to kill us for it! If she goes back there, she'll die, and I'm sure you don't want the death of an innocent, talented student on your hands!"

"I had no idea," Lockhart said faintly, "I-I'm so sorry, Severus, but-but I'm afraid that right now I'm a little low on funds. I can give her half of the money, but I'm afraid-!"

"No, Gilderoy," Snape snapped, "She held back on you before, and if she wants to hex you to get her money, I won't stop her!"

"Fine!" Lockhart snapped, "I'll give her what I owe her, and the money back for the books of mine that she purchased so that she can buy her textbooks for the upcoming years! Happy?!"

"Almost," Snape hedged, "You won't just be paying her the money you owe her, you're going to give her a formal apology for insulting her and saying that you meant for all that to go as it did! She defeated you fair and square, and in all honesty, I don't believe you really did all the things that your books claim that you did!"

"How dare you!" Lockhart yelled angrily, "Are you calling me a liar?!"

"There are a lot of things I'd like to call you," Snape shot back calmly, "And I'm sure Potter would finally agree with me on something when it comes to a desire to hex you into oblivion."

"You against me!" Lockhart yelled, "Rematch! In front of all the students! Winner gets two thousand galleons from the other!"

"Oh? Making such hasty bets, Gilderoy?" Snape sneered, "very well, I accept. Two weeks from now sounds nice, to let you recover, you know."

"No!" he yelled, "Tonight!"

"May ninth," Snape snapped, and Lockhart flushed angrily. "The more you insist upon keeping it tonight, the more I'll insist it should be later."

"Fine! Next week!" he yelled, and Snape sneered.

"I look forward to destroying you," he hissed as he gathered up his money from the bet and left the staff room.

The others rounded up their money bags as well and went off to their offices. They used the Floo, all calling Snape at once, and he scowled.

"Severus, is it true?" Minerva asked, "Did they really try to kill you?"

"No, but if it weren't for the Howler I'd sent them last year, they wouldn't have given me the money needed," Snape said as he set the money on the arm of the chair. "I had to pull out my wand as it was, and the evil stepmother – Sweet Salazar, she's worse than my father! She may not have physically abused Miss Dare, but she most definitely has psychologically and emotionally tortured the poor girl, and withheld information."

"Does Miss Dare still have access to the Johnson vault?" Dumbledore asked calmly.

"Yes, and technically speaking, I'm her guardian over it since I signed the paperwork as one of her Professors," Snape said calmly, "The Goblins were extremely lenient after I explained her housing problems to them and told them that she was running away from an abusive household."

"Did she?" Flitwick squeaked fearfully.

"She ran to me and I sent her to live with my aunt," Snape said calmly, "Miss Dare and I now live next door to each other."

"Merlin's beard!" Charity yelled, "I had no idea – Severus, I am so sorry! Is there anything I can do to help?"

"We," the others corrected in unison, "We _all _want to help."

"There _is _one thing," Snape said calmly, "Charity, she will need a different ride to and from King's Cross aside from me. I'm afraid my aunt can't drive, so could you apparate Miss Dare to and from King's Cross if I show you where to apparate to?"

"Yes," she said calmly, "Wizard or Muggle Community? What am I talking about? You're a Slytherin, it's a wizard."

"Muggle, actually," Snape said calmly, "Aunt Agatha was my father's older half-sister through his father having a love affair. Thank Merlin I don't have any cousins."

"Is Agatha…?" Minerva asked fearfully.

"She is nothing like either of my parents," snape said calmly, "She is loving, kind, and was the maternal role in my life that I needed throughout my childhood, and she raised me after my parents ended up dead at my father's hands."

"Your father commit suicide?" Pomona asked shocked.

"We have gone off on a tangent," Snape said dismissively, closing the subject. "Now, how do the rest of you intend to help?"

"We could buy her an owl," Flitwick squeaked, and Snape snorted. "What?"

"Fillius, as honorable and good of an idea as that is, I'm afraid that you'd be wasting your time," Snape said calmly, "That is what she's going to go do with the money Gilderoy owes her."

"Surely-!" Dumbledore started.

"Let me finish, Albus," Snape snapped, "She has already gone to the pet shop in Diagon Alley, and the phoenix inside has chosen her to be its witch."

There was silence until it was broken by Lockhart.

"So sorry!" he grinned, "what did I miss?"

"We were talking about Miss Dare's financial situation, actually, Gilderoy," Albus said calmly, and Snape could almost see the twinkle in his eyes. "You seem to be one of a noble heart, perhaps a yearly payment to help her pay for her books?"

"I know I already am," Snape said, "And Charity has agreed to help bring Miss Dare to King's Cross so her parents don't have to pay for the trip."

"I'll pay for the food her familiar will eat once she gets one," Minerva said calmly. "Pomona?"

"I'll make sure she gets her Herbology textbook for free," Professor Sprout said.

"I look forward to defeating you, Severus!" Lockhart yelled before Snape scowled and sent a powerful stinging hex through the Floo. He knew by the sound of repellants that the others had repelled his except for Lockhart. "Jerk!"

"Dumbass!" Snape shot back before Lockhart closed the Floo. "Now, there is one other option available if you all are willing to hear me out."

"What's that?" Charity asked.

"Her neglectful and abusive father and stepmother are filthy rich," Snape said calmly, "If we can scare and psychologically torture them into giving her the money needed, we don't have to worry. Although she will still need a way to King's Cross, I believe my Aunt Agatha still remembers taking me and how to get to the station and platform."

"I'll wait until your idea is over, Severus," Minerva smiled. "If I'm correct, you said you had a plan up your sleeve?"

"yes, yes I do," Snape sneered and the others closed off the Floo. "Baron! Bloody Baron, where are you?!"

O.o.O.o.O.o.O

It was a week later that Daisy was called into Snape's office to find a large bag of gold being pushed across his desk towards her.

"Gilderoy Lockhart is a coward," Snape snarled, "I had to threaten him, and Peeves tormented him all week long, but this is the money that he owes you."

"Thank you, sir," She beamed, "Can we go to Diagon Alley, please?"

"Yes, it _is _a Hogsmeade weekend tomorrow, isn't it?" Snape asked curiously, "Yes, I'll see what I can do."

"Severus," Dumbledore said from the Floo. "Gilderoy tells me that he has given you the money that he owes Miss Dare. Why don't you take her to Diagon Alley tomorrow?"

"We were just talking about asking your permission to do so, Albus," Snape said calmly. "Well, Miss Dare, I will see you tomorrow at eight o'clock sharp, don't be late."

Snape went into the Headmaster's office and pulled a memory out of a jar inside his desk.

"Severus, my boy, what's wrong?" Dumbledore asked worriedly.

"An older version of Daisy told me to look at this memory," he said frowning, "She said it was important that I watch it tonight."

"Very well," Dumbledore said calmly. "I will not intrude."

Snape nodded before sticking his face into the penseive. He saw the Hogwarts hallways form and then the third year Daisy racing down the hall. She beamed before heading off to bed. She knew she left the money with him, but it would be safe in his quarters, she knew. Lockhart had the password, and she could tell it was him who had snuck into her bedroom to get the money back. Snape snarled as he watched Lockhart enter the girls' dormitory.

"Where is it?" the Defense teacher hissed quietly, "Where is my money?"

_With Professor snape, where it belongs_, Daisy thought.

"Hello," a familiar female snarl said quietly, and Lockhart turned.

"You are not Miss Dare," he said warily. "Who are you?"

"Mrs. Snape," the projection of the elder Daisy answered quietly. "Now, get out of this dormitory or I will hex you into oblivion like I've wanted to do in my school days. Oh, and if you don't give the money to the ones you owe it to, you'll get killed by the monster in the Chamber."

"What-how-_you're _the heir?" Lockhart whispered, and the elder Daisy snorted.

"Hardly. I wouldn't have a phoenix if I were a murderer, now would I?" she sneered, "Oh, and if you find that there is an orphan student, I recommend helping them in any way that you can. Potter needs to be left alone, and while I'm at it, the brunette that is asleep over there – Miss Day? Dane? Dare? Whatever her name is – needs to be left alone as well and treated with as much respect as you would give to the headmaster."

"And if I don't?" Lockhart whispered.

"I'll kill you," she snarled, "Give the brunette two thousand galleons, or you _will _get killed by the monster before the end of the year. Oh, and you won't see me again until the day before you are impaled upon a sword of your own forgery."

"What?" he asked, and she sneered before turning into the smoke form that Snape had taught her. she flew out the window, and he stared after her. "Accio my money."

Nothing came, and he snarled angrily before another Daisy projection appeared, this one pregnant.

"Still trying, I recall," she said calmly, and held one hand over her swollen abdomen and the other held her wand aloft. "Don't try to hex me, you'll get killed for trying to harm the little one inside me."

"Snape?" he asked quietly, and the projection nodded. "But-you-how?"

"I'm a projector," she said calmly, "Now, get out of this dormitory before I scream and wake everyone up and get you fired for being a pedophile."

"You wouldn't," he paled, "Please don't tell."

"I will unless you give my husband a thousand or so galleons a month until you leave this post," she snarled, and he nodded fearfully. "I don't believe you. Make the _unbreakable vow_."

He paled before whimpering and she grinned maniacally.

"I-I will send Severus the money," he whimpered, "Just-just don't kill me, please don't make me lose my job, my books would never sell!"

"You're an awful quiet desperate beggar," she grinned, "Go. Go down there now, and I'll be following you every step of the way."

Snape withdrew from the Penseive and raced to the Floo to get back to his office and then run to his private quarters. He'd just gotten inside when he heard footsteps down the hallways. And with that Lockhart came into a _very _irate Snape's Private quarters, and Snape was forced to listen to the blubbering Defense Teacher's terrified tale while shooting glances at the elder Daisy's swollen belly. As Lockhart finished his tale, Snape sneered and held out his wand.

"Gilderoy," Snape said calmly, "I _will _expose what you've done if you don't make those monthly payments. Make sure I receive them in private gradually over the course of the month or I will personally make sure you are fired."

"I will," Lockhart squeaked, "I promise!"

"Good," he sneered, "Now get out."

Lockhart fled quickly as Snape turned to the pregnant witch.

"Who are you?" he asked, and she beamed.

"Your wife," she smiled before vanishing and revealing that she had been a projection.

"Oh, god," he murmured before going to bed and falling asleep to a deep, and very disturbed slumber.

* * *

Oh, goody, I finally worked in a pregnant Daisy into the mix! I've been wanting to do that for eons!

Please review!


	21. Chapter 21

Still don't own Harry Potter or any of its characters!

* * *

**August 1998**

Kingsley and Snape withdrew from the penseive and looked over at the Phoenix sitting asleep on her perch.

"As you can guess, Gilderoy made his monthly payments," Snape wrote calmly with his wand, "He sent me twelve-hundred galleons a month, thirty-six hundred total. He only stopped because he lost his memory down in the Chamber. Potter knows what happened, Daisy might as well if she projected herself down there in time."

"And…?" Kingsley said looking at the Phoenix warily.

"She was paid for in payments," Snape wrote calmly, "Daisy used the bet money from Gilderoy for half of what she owed. The startled shopkeeper asked where she got it and she replied 'gambling with Lockhart about who was better' like it was nothing. The look on his face was priceless."

"What about the rest of the money?" Kingsley asked, "She still owed one thousand four hundred and sixty galleons."

"Again, it was done through gambling. It wasn't hard for her. Okay, I admit, I kind of threatened her parents to give me four thousand pounds to pay for her textbooks and told them that the books were only going to get more expensive as the years went on and that she went for the classes that had the most textbooks and the most expensive ones required."

"How did they take it?" he asked, and Snape grinned madly. "Uh-oh."

"Oh, that's right," Snape sneered as he wrote with his wand again, "I set Peeves on them when they didn't give me the money required in time. Well, it was a week before school started up in nineteen ninety three that they sent five thousand pounds to me."

"What happened?" Kingsley asked worriedly as the water was shut off.

"I went to Diagon Alley, had it exchanged, and took Daisy down to the different shops. Most of the books were on low stock, but Jade was ecstatic to see her as Daisy stepped in to make the final payment at the Shopkeeper's shock and horror," Snape chuckled as he wrote, "I had to explain that she had recently inherited a small fortune from her stepmother. He then glanced at her before handing Jade over like nothing was wrong."

"Did anything happen after that? Was Jade allowed to remain at Hogwarts?" Kingsley asked, and Snape's face told him that Jade wasn't. "Why not?"

"Dumbledore said it was too dangerous for a second phoenix to remain in the Hogwarts owlrey, so I made a bargain with him. Jade remained with me while my owl, Hades, went with Daisy. It was quiet a genius setup, and it took all of two days for the students to figure out that she and I had each others' familiars."

"Well, even-even Harry knew?" Kingsley asked.

"Potter was ignorant," Snape dismissed through his countenance as he continued writing with his wand in smoke, "He knew she had a new owl, but had never seen Hades before that year. So, when he saw Hades going to her, he thought it was hers. It wasn't until his sixth year, when we switched back, that he realized the setup that we'd had."

"Poor Harry," Kingsley marveled, "How did he react?"

"Anger," Snape wrote calmly like it was obvious. "It was in her final year, when she needed him the most, that he cut her off for taking my side. He accused her of being a Death Eater, and Albus ended up having to give her private quarters to keep her safe. Jade was quite pleased with that arrangement."

At the mention of her names so many times in smoke, the Phoenix in question flew over to Snape, landed on his shoulder, and began crying on his neck wound.

"Why don't you show me some more memories of when Sirius broke out of Azkaban?" Kingsley asked.

"Why don't _I _show you _my _memories," Daisy said darkly as she came downstairs. "Severus, put your memories back."

Snape held up his wand and obeyed as she began removing her own memories and dropping them into a vial. Once Snape was done, she dumped the contents into the Pensieve.

"I'm warning you, this year was hell for me," She said calmly, "Black made sure of it. it's also why I became an animagus, at the time illegal."

"But why didn't you go to Azkaban or get fined?" Kingsley asked appalled.

"That's what I'm going to show you," Daisy said like it was obvious. "But all that aside, I'd have died if I hadn't been able to purchase Jade over that summer."

"Why?" Kingsley asked confused, and she narrowed her eyes and lowered her shirt to show a large faint scar that even Snape didn't know she had. "What happened to you?"

"Black," she said calmly, "When I wouldn't give him the things he wanted."

The two wizards did nothing but blink as the three of them put their fingers to the penseive to go in.

* * *

Oiyah... I'm getting tired... not just of uploading my fanfics en masse, but also in general... *yawns* but a promise is a promise...

Please review... things aren't exactly going to be worth it if there aren't any reviews...


	22. Chapter 22

Still don't own Harry Potter or any of its characters!

* * *

**November 1993**

"Miss Dare, my office," Snape snarled on Halloween, "You can forget about going to the feast."

"That's not fair!" one of the Gryffindor girls yelled, "She never does anything! If anything she tries to do better in Potions than any other class! why are you so hateful to us Gryffindors?!"

"Talking back? Detention, Miss Jolie, and don't you be at my office a minute later than seven tomorrow night!" Snape snapped before slamming the door to his office loudly with Daisy cowering inside.

"Greasy git," they heard some of the boys saying through the door, and Snape shook his head.

"Now, where were we?" he asked, pondering. "Ah, yes, your familiar. How did your wand become broken?"

"I-It was stolen," Daisy admitted quietly, "It was in its sheath one night under my pillow, and then the next morning it was gone."

Jade looked up to find her mistress and flew over and began singing softly to soothe her mistress.

"Stolen," Snape said, and she nodded. "Black?"

"I think so, sir," Daisy admitted, "But, sir, I don't understand why he chose _my _wand."

"He could have chosen any," Snape said calmly, "But I believe he chose yours because you are currently in possession of my owl."

"He-he did what? Why?" she asked confused, and Snape huffed.

"I hate that man," Snape said calmly, "One day you'll know the full story, but let me suffice and sum it up by telling you that he and Potter Sr. made my life a living hell while I was in school, alongside Peter Pettigrew and your current Defense Teacher."

"Who's a werewolf," Daisy said calmly, and Snape nodded with a smirk. "Ever since you set the essay, sir."

"Good girl, I expect nothing less of you," Snape sneered, "the other heads of Houses already know?"

"Yes, sir," she said calmly, "They've got me trying to use wand-less magic, but it's not working very well right now."

"It uses up far more magic than that of using a wand," Snape said calmly. "I don't believe you're strong enough this year. Now, why don't we pull out that chess set I bought you and play a few games?"

"I'd love to, sir," she beamed, and pulled her set out of her bag and began setting up. "Professors first."

"No, the saying is 'ladies first', and I intend to uphold to such," Snape smirked, and she blushed. "Dare I admit what is going on in my head every time you do that?"

She shook her head before ordering her first pawn to move. He decimated her in all three games, but she was learning quickly. Never once did she complain, even though he knew his victories were hurting her, but he was using the chess games to his advantage. With every game, he began teaching her new strategies to help her win, as well as life lessons that he had learned and was willing to share.

"Hey, guys," Daisy yawned as she finally got up to the Gryffindor tower. "What'd I miss this year?"

"Where were you and Snape?" Harry demanded, "you were both gone! Where were you?!"

"I got in trouble and he held me back for a long lecture about needing to grow up and act my age," she yawned again. "Why?"

"And you survived?" Ron asked appalled, "After listening to the Greasy Git for so long?"

"It was quite enjoyable," Daisy grinned, "I think he's becoming hard-pressed to find me a good enough punishment."

"Explain," Harry said crossing his arms, and she rolled her eyes. "Go on, enlighten us."

"Well, I'm quick at scrubbing cauldrons, and since that's similar to my previous home, he's not allowed to do that," she said calmly, "I enjoy learning how to prepare new Potions Ingredients and make new potions, so those two options are out. I love helping to organize his stores so I can see what each Potion looks like, so that's another option gone. I'm a quick essay writer, so that's probably not going to happen anytime soon. Need I continue?"

"No," the third years said in unison, as Dean, Seamus, and Neville had approached, as well as Ginny. "You okay?"

"I feel fine, if not tired," Daisy yawned. "Night you guys."

They stared after her as she went to bed that night. She lay in bed pondering and meditating about her animagus form when a large black dog arrived. She looked at it before turning back to her meditating.

O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O

"Don't you move a muscle, or I'll slit your throat," a male snarled in her ear quietly a week later. She immediately knew what was going on: a kidnapping by Sirius Black.

"Daisy?" Hermione asked as she got up to go to the bathroom, and Black swore quietly before shifting back into his dog form that he'd been holding up for so long.

"Yeah?" Daisy asked quietly, "What's up?"

"I was told to check up on you," Hermione said, "She said you were in danger."

"Mrs. Snape?" Daisy asked, and Hermione nodded. "Right. Thanks."

The black dog raised its hackles at the sound of the words "Mrs. Snape", his anger kindled against the sour Potions Master. Black and Snape hated each other, everyone in their generation knew, and it was no question for them as to why Snape hated Black. Black hated Snape simply for being a Slytherin while he was a Gryffindor, and it was a good enough excuse for him.

"No problem," Hermione said blinking, "She said your wand was gone."

"Stolen," Daisy nodded. "I think Black did it."

"No surprise," Hermione shuddered. "First he attacks the Fat Lady, then Ron – now what?"

"Dunno," Daisy shuddered, "For once, I don't have a clue."

"Night," Hermione said before going back to her dorms.

"Do the world a favor, and get rid of Snivellous' wife," Black snarled in her ear, "And if you don't, I'll kill both you and her myself."

Daisy nodded fearfully and silently, knowing that in order to do that, she'd be killing herself. the next day, just after dinner, she went to Snape's office and knocked on the door fearfully. She entered with his permission, and hesitantly began twisting her hair with her hands in fear.

"Black," he said calmly, and she nodded. "Are you sure?"

"He called you Snivellous, sir," she said hesitantly, and he visibly bristled. "He-he wanted me to get rid of someone."

"Who?" he asked, immediately alert.

"Two, actually, sir," she said quietly, "Peter Pettigrew and-and- and well, me."

"Projection," he said calmly, "A projection saved your life, didn't she?"

"She warned Hermione that I was in danger, Hermione called her Mrs. Snape," Daisy cringed, "But-but I'm thinking it was-was just a cover, sir."

"We must never try to understand the future," Snape said calmly, "That's one of the reasons I hate prophecies. Let the future come, and only fear what your future selves tell you directly."

"Yes, sir," she said as her stomach began twisting into further knots. "S-sir? How would one go on to become an animagus?"

"That is a question for Professor McGonagall," he said calmly, "I'm sure she'll understand if you ask her and explain your reasons. Probably much better than that bastard Black's reason."

"And-and Professor Lupin?" Daisy asked, and he blinked. "Sir-sir I'm scared. I keep getting this feeling that something bad is about to happen…"

"Life is full of hills and valleys, and loathe as I am to say this, we must accept both and take them in stride," he said calmly, "Now, let's get to the feast before Potter jumps to the wrong conclusion again."

* * *

Just a few more chapters to go for this one for tonight before I can move on to the next one...

Please review!


	23. Chapter 23

Still don't own Harry Potter or any of its characters!

* * *

**December 1993**

"I told you not to move," he snarled, and Daisy felt her blood freeze as she froze while on her way back inside from Hagrid's hut just before curfew.

"I didn't," she murmured, "You left, sir. What do you want with me?"

"What do you think? You're fourteen, without a wand – no thanks to me – and are a Gryffindor, like me, and are in love with _Snivellous_. Consider this a favor as me rescuing you from the oversized bat," he sneered before picking her up by her waist. "If you scream, I'll kill you."

"What do you want? If it's Harry you're after, you had plenty of chances," she whispered frantically.

"The rat," he said calmly, "Weasley's rat. He's an illegal animagus, Peter Pettigrew. It's because of that bastard that I'm in Azkaban."

"Then let me help you clear your name," she pled, looking up at the castle hoping someone would find that she was missing if she left a trail. But what?

The Tie!

She quickly shed her tie and twisted it into a knot and making a dog out of it before dropping it on the ground. She hoped to the Four Founders that Snape would find it or translate its meaning, and come to her rescue. Her Half-Blood Prince had always come to her rescue before, why should this year be any different?

She was taken through the night into a small, dark cave. She was thrown down brutally, and he started yanking off his trousers.

"Please, don't!" she yelled, "I don't want to know what's down there!"

"Then why the hell do you insist upon staying with Snivellous? You do realize he's married, don't you?" he snarled, "I pity the blind bat foolish enough to marry the greasy bat! And I pity their kids for having that bastard for a father!"

"Please!" Daisy pled desperately, "Anything! Just – just don't rape or kill me!"

"Oh, you'll be willing," he snarled as he pulled out Daisy's wand. "Imperio!"

Daisy felt the strongest urge to let him in and let him take her "to bed", so to speak, but she fought it tooth and nail.

"No!" she yelled, "I'll never let a criminal like you take me! Never! I'd rather kill Harry or Professor Lupin first!"

He froze, and the urge stopped. They were silent for a while before he was at her throat with the knife once more. In a desperate act of self-preservation, she quickly explained that by reading ahead in the textbook, she figured out Lupin was a werewolf, pieced together that Snape had been brewing the Wolfsbane Potion every month, and that Snape's wife was impartial to house ties, and that she'd never even met the woman.

"Fine," Black snarled, "But I'm warning you – any funny business and you'll be crying."

"Isn't that what you, Potter, Pettigrew and Lupin did during school? Make life hell for the Slytherin students for your own amusement?" she shot back angrily, and he slapped her so hard she was sent into the back of the cave.

Her head rammed against the back, and she felt her vision swimming and her world completely tilting on its axis. She closed her eyes and forced herself not to cry, forced herself to create an emotionless mask that Snape was so famous for. He slapped her again across the face, yelling angrily that if she mentioned the Marauders one more time that he'd make her wish she'd have never been born. She secretly thought that she was already beginning to wish just that simply by being in the same vicinity as him.

Over the course of two weeks, she always snuck the most recent newspaper Black brought back for reading and threw the previous one into the fire. It was in this method that she learned that the teachers had discovered that she had been kidnapped, and that Black had left a kidnapper's ransom on her head. The ransom was Harry Potter carrying the three familiars of him and his two best friends, as well as Snape carrying his familiar and having broken his wand. She cringed, knowing it was a ruse, but also that Dumbledore wouldn't allow it.

As Black kept going into Hogsmeade whenever it wasn't a Hogsmeade weekend for students, she kept working on changing into her animagus form. She then began projecting in her sleep and then realized that she was becoming close to being an illegal animagus. It was only a few days into the future, but it was close enough to trick Black.

It was just as the Christmas holidays began that he took the knife to her chest and demanded that she take him to bed. She flat out refused, and he ripped her shirt off of her and began tearing his knife in a large circle over her collarbone. She was silent and refused to cry, knowing he'd win, and she felt the blood cascading down her front. She felt him begin to take the knife lower, and she grabbed it and attempted to stab him.

In the process, however, he stabbed her near her heart and her near his stomach. he cringed and backed off, yanking his knife with him, and spat in her direction angrily before going to rip a piece of his clothes off to use as a bandage. Once he was done, he shifted and went into Hogsmeade. As he left, she began breathing heavily, her vision swimming from loss of blood.

It was just when she was feeling as though she were about to die that she felt a different kind of hot wetness on her chest, one that she knew must have been a phoenix. She felt Jade's familiar warmth and smiled gently as she tried to move her arm to pet her phoenix. It was of no use, and her arm only twitched before the phoenix shifted to try to heal her chest wound, which had begun clotting. With a few more minutes of tears, she felt her chest close up.

"Jade," she rasped, "Go-Snape-lead-here…"

Jade shed a single solitary tear before flying off to obey her mistress. Black was astounded that she had been so miraculously healed, but he saw by a single red feather that it was a phoenix.

"So, you truly are loyal to Dumbledore," he said calmly, "Fine, then. We'll see just how long he lets you rot here."

With that said, he began leaving her alone more and more often, distancing himself from her much, much more. As he did so, she went back to work on her animagus transformation and she finally did so just before Christmas. She could feel that it had fur, and that she was warmer in it immediately. Her projections kept petting her fur quietly and silently, never once uttering a single word.

Finally, on Christmas Eve, she tottered up and left the cave while Black was asleep. She raced unsteadily up to the Hogwarts Castle as fast as her weak legs could carry her, even though she fell often. She picked herself back up every time and finally tottered into the castle greenhouses. It was the first one, the least dangerous, and she collapsed under a table, relishing the warmth. Her entire body ached now, and she felt as though her head were about to explode as she fell asleep with her head on her paws.

It was the next day that Professor Sprout found her before floating her limp form up to the castle and into the staff room, asking very confused colleagues whose dog that was. It was a relief to hear Snape's voice again, and Daisy finally let herself stir just enough to whine as she heard his voice. Unfortunately, it wasn't heard by anyone.

"Pomona, is that thing even _alive_?" Snape scoffed as he flicked back open a newspaper.

"I don't know," she admitted, "I only thought to bring it in."

"And why, pray tell, did you cover it with your cloak?" he growled, "It's useless trying to keep a dead animal warm, you know."

Daisy managed to conjure enough strength to get up off the floor and take a few tottering steps towards Snape before collapsing and transforming back into her human form.

"Great Godric!" one teacher yelled in shock as she collapsed in her human form. "She's an illegal animagus!"

"That must be how she escaped Black," Snape said calmly, "nothing to do now but to get her up to Poppy."

"I'll do it," McGonagall volunteered, "she's my student, and I'm the one who taught her how to begin the training when she told me she'd need it at the beginning of the year."

"We'll need an alibi so she doesn't get killed," Flitwick squeaked.

"I believe I can help with that," a calm voice said, and it was immediately quiet to give the headmaster time to talk. "I'm sure Cornelius will understand if we are elaborate enough to convince him that this was the only way for her to escape Black."

"I hope you're right about that," Snape said calmly, "She'll die if you aren't. And we wouldn't want an innocent student's death on our head, would we, Albus?"

"Severus!" the entire staff room yelled angrily, and he calmly stepped over her unconscious body and swept out of the staff room.

"That man has some serious issues," Charity scoffed, "I don't know why you keep him headmaster."

* * *

Okay, so she's stuck in Black's clutches. This is why she comes to hate him in the end, and is glad to see him go come time for Order of the Phoenix.

Please review!


	24. Chapter 24

Still don't own Harry Potter or any of its characters!

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**December 1993-January 1994**

"Damn it!" Black yelled angrily as he woke up and saw that Daisy was gone. "Damn that bitch to hell!"

"And what bitch would that be?" an older Daisy snarled angrily, and he wheeled around to her. "Yes, you dumbass, I tricked you with projection. By the way, Mrs. Snape is non-existent while you're still alive, just so you know."

"I knew it!" Black yelled, "That Greasy Git never marries!"

"Oh, he marries," Daisy said calmly, "Just not with you and everyone else in the Gryffindor House trying to kill his spouse. No, you'll be rotting when he gets married."

"To you," he snarled, and she nodded. "How-who are you?"

"The same one you kidnapped and just escaped from you," she said calmly, "Only eighteen."

"I should kill you right now," he snarled, "I should kill you right now!"

"He ends up dying, you know," she said calmly, "Pettigrew. You owe me a life debt for not revealing where you are right now. And you'd best be happy I'm in the Hospital Wing under a dreamless sleep potion – both now and in 1998 – or I'd be revealing your location to Dumbledore and what you're really after, and of course the fact that you're an illegal animagus and all that."

"You," he snarled, "You really are in love with _Snivellous _aren't you?!"

"Call my fiancée that again and I'll kill you in the Ministry of Magic," she snarled, "Or, I could – and am very tempted – to turn you in and let you suffer by a Dementor's hand."

Sirius paled before snapping her wand angrily. She smiled and held up a second one, one that had been from the phoenix that she owned. He flushed with rage, shoving the wand back into her sheath and transforming into a dog to leave it on the doorstep of the three broomsticks. The elder Daisy projection sighed before whooshing off into Snape's private quarters. He was pacing angrily, and it was still Christmas.

"I promised you I wouldn't willingly leave you alone on Christmas," she said calmly and he whirled around to face her. "I intend to uphold to that promise. Want me to go have Poppy bring me down here to recover? Let her know that with me in your quarters that I'm safe from harm?"

"Yes," he admitted, and she whooshed off to the hospital wing.

The younger Daisy felt a stir of motion as she was jostled a bit as she was put onto a stretcher. She was carried down in the dark to Snape's quarters where Poppy stared at the portrait of Slytherin. She was let in by Snape, who had transfigured the couch into a four poster bed. She stared before taking the young lioness and putting her on the bed and tucking her in.

"I'm sure you don't need instructions," she said calmly as she handed him the potions he'd need. "Blood levels are low, if she feels faint then let her take one. I'll be back at mealtimes to check on her, and she also had severe malnutrition and has multiple cracks and fractures on her skull, so let her rest for a few more days."

Snape nodded before Poppy left and he went to sit on his arm chair. It didn't feel as comfortable as it did before, and he felt guilty for taking Daisy away from Poppy. He looked at his presents with indifference and sent them off to a different area of the room before flicking out the lights with a _nox_ spell as he went to his room.

It was at noon on his birthday that Daisy finally woke up, albeit very confused. She looked at the presents and then at her surroundings before seeing Snape copying things from one Potions book to another for who knew why.

"Hi," she rasped, and he looked up to make eye contact with her. "Black?"

"Missing," he said as he put the quill in the inkwell and pushed away from the desk. "How are you feeling?"

"My head hurts," she rasped after taking a long drink of water.

"Yes, a fractured skull will do that to you," he said dryly, and she smiled. "Quite an ironic animagus form you have."

"Hm?"

"You were kidnapped by a dog and that is what your form is," he said calmly, "The headmaster has said that you will be staying in my quarters since there's a bounty on both of our heads because of Black and he is more of a threat to the Gryffindor tower."

"Jade," she rasped, and the Phoenix flew over to her. "Thanks."

"Yes, she sent me a note from you, only from your future projection," he said calmly, "you've done extremely well."

She said nothing but drank a long time from the bottle of pumpkin juice he had. When she finally topped it off she looked up to find that Snape was wetting a rag and she flinched as he went forward towards her. He hesitated for less than a second before gently placing the damp rag on her forehead before placing an ice pack on it.

"Thank you," she said at last, "I'm starting to feel better already."

"You'll have a migraine for a while yet I'm afraid," he said calmly as he handed her a nutrient potion and a pain relief potion. "He starved you and gave you numerous concussions. It's a miracle you're alive."

"I would have given up except I knew that you needed me," she admitted, and he tilted his head with a raised eyebrow. "You probably haven't seen me since I saw you in your boxers, but-but something's telling me that I end up saving your life again in the future with level two projection." He tilted his head, so she added, "Projecting something or someone alongside you is the second level."

"Are there more levels?" he asked, and she nodded.

"The third level is where you project into the future, and I think I'm starting to wake that one up first since it was how I tricked Black," she said considerately, "the fourth level is when you can project while awake or begin to control when and where you project to after you've started projecting. The fifth level is where you can project multiple people alongside you – that one requires them to all be asleep, though and it's hard. The sixth and final level is when you can go beyond the years that you were alive and into a past century, but few projectors actually get that strong."

"Impressive," Snape said calmly, "How difficult is it usually to awaken the next level?"

"Well, the first one is always just after the witch or wizard just begins to harness their magic," she explained, "The second level is next, and in life-threatening situations another one can be used accidentally. The second level is usually at about thirteen or fourteen, so I'm not sure why I haven't opened that one up yet. The third level is tricky to manage, so it usually comes at about the ages of sixteen or seventeen, with the levels higher than that differing with everyone since those require personal training over prolonged periods of time."

"Well, I'm glad you awoke your third level this week," he said calmly, "It's been very quiet and lonely without you. As a matter of fact, even the Weasley twins have dulled down a good ways with you gone."

"You're kidding!" she said warily, and he shook his head. "You really missed me? Are you sure?"

"As sure as I am that I'm a Slytherin," he said calmly, and the smile that spread across her face was worth every second of his privacy being invaded.

* * *

Okay, I know Snape is OOC and my character is getting a little Mary-Sue, but please let me explain. The projection thing was my idea, and I also tweaked it so that the projector not only goes to save their spouse in times of dire need, but also their younger selves should something life-threatening be about to occur or something that causes an immense amount of stress (both of which occur in the cave) occur.

Please review!


	25. Chapter 25

Still don't own Harry Potter or any of its characters!

NOTICE: FROM HERE ON OUT, I WILL NOT UPDATE A FANFIC UNTIL THE MOST RECENT CHAPTER HAS AT LEAST THREE REVIEWS TO ITS TITLE!

* * *

**January 1994**

"Hades," Snape said curtly as he went off to lunch the next day and his owl flew to his side. He detached the parcel from the black owl's leg and opened it confused. Daisy, however, sat at the Gryffindor table, wanting to be isolated from the others. "Ah. Headmaster!"

"Severus, my boy, please call me Albus," Dumbledore insisted before Snape showed him what was in the parcel. "Ah, good. Where was it?"

"Black had it," he said darkly, and McGonagall jumped in surprise. "I'm not joking. This is – well, what's left of it."

"However did you get it back?" Pomona asked.

"According to the attached letter, Rosmerta found it," Snape said calmly, "It was in the sheath which was on her doorstep when she woke up to let her cat out one morning. She figured we'd know whose it was, and Hades was on the windowsill."

"Well, I believe a trip to Diagon Alley is in order," Dumbledore said calmly, "Go on, Severus, why don't the two of you take tomorrow off and take her to Diagon Alley?"

"Yes, well," Snape hedged, "I'd prefer not to, in all honesty. Have Minerva take her instead."

"No, Severus, you go," McGonagall shot back, "Go get out of the castle for once. Merlin knows you need it."

Snape said nothing but scowled as he went over to Daisy and hissed in her ear that they were leaving. It was then that the Golden Trio arrived in the Great Hall, and they stared as she followed Snape with a confused look. She turned around to shrug at them before turning back around and following him to his office.

"Get the feather," he said, "We're going on a little trip."

"I heard," she admitted, "To be honest, I'm glad I don't have to face the others right now."

"Diagon Alley!" Snape yelled as the flames erupted and he threw the Floo powder down. Daisy followed in a like manner and landed square on her bottom while he had landed perfectly.

"Ow," she griped as she got up and brushed herself off. "Ollivander's, then?"

He nodded as he led her through the Leaky Cauldron and back to Diagon Alley. They stepped forwards and then turned off to Gringotts to grab a few dozen galleons to make a few purchases. They went to Ollivander's, and the bell rang above them.

"Ah, Professor Snape!" the elderly wizard smiled, "Yew and snake-skin core, twelve and a half inches, yes?"

He nodded as he held it up and pulled it out of its sheath.

"Ah, then something must have happened to yours," he said looking to Daisy. "The same materials and snake as your Potions Master. Whatever happened?"

"Black got a hold of it and snapped it in a temper tantrum," she said honestly, "I was hoping you could fix it."

"Ah, I'm afraid not, child," he said sadly, "You'll have to buy a new one. I'm so sorry."

"Can you make a custom one?" she asked, and he tilted his head. "You see, I have a phoenix feather here and, well – I kind of want it to be added to the core of my new wand."

"Ah, yes, let's get your new one first to see how it will react," Ollivander said going into the back rooms and studying the shelves. "Holly and unicorn hair, try it."

She flicked it, and the ornament on the desk broke.

"No," he said thoughtfully before going to get another wand. "Try this."

"Eep!" she squeaked fearfully as the window behind her shattered as she simply took hold of the wand.

"Surely not…" he murmured and looked to the back.

"What?" she asked as he went to the back of the store. He returned a while later and placed a heavy box in her hands. "What's this?"

"It's a custom wand that someone purchased from me, but vanished before it was completed," he said earnestly, "Ironically, it was Professor Snape's mother who ordered it. Stygian Iron and obsidian, but nobody has ever touched it without pain before."

"And why wasn't this returned to me?" Snape scowled, and Ollivander looked at him.

"Your mother told me that if she never came back for it that I was to give it to the first person it worked for, free," he said honestly, "She wanted you to have it as well, but she ordered a second one for you the day you came to get your first wand. I've got it in the back somewhere."

"Wow," Daisy muttered as a gentle and calm breeze went through the store.

"Ah, I believe we found our match," Ollivander smiled, "Now, the phoenix feather… yes, it _should _work in this wand."

Daisy handed him the wand and the phoenix feather in question.

"Ah, yes, these two are made for each other," he smiled, "Well done, Miss Dare. Your wand will be stronger than that of most of the others your age. Wands with two cores are rare, and those who wield them are usually ones who become naturally born leaders. We can expect great things from you as well, Miss Dare. Now, Severus, would you like your second wand now, or later?"

"Now," he said grimly, "I'd like to have a backup in case mine meets the same end as Miss Dare's."

"Ah, yes, a little glitch about your wand, Miss Dare," Ollivander smiled, "Due to its being made of Stygian Iron, it will return to your sheath should it get lost, and here is the accompanying sheath."

"Here," she said holding out forty galleons. "Stygian iron is rare, I'm not leaving without paying for this wand."

"Madame Snape already has," he said calmly, "If you want to pay someone back, you may pay your potions master. Now, is there anything else I can help the two of you with?"

"Nope, I'm good," Daisy beamed as she put on her new sheath. Ollivander held onto the wand to ensure that the phoenix feather made it in, and Daisy and Snape left the shop with his new wand.

"Well, that was interesting," Snape scowled, "Come, let's get your textbooks."

"Yay!" she squealed excitedly and ran on ahead to Flourish and Blotts to go pick up all of the Potions Books that she would need over the course of the next few years, as well as a few extra.

"Salazar help me," Snape muttered as he followed after her to find that she had grabbed literally every Potions book she would need up until the end of her seventh year and even a few spare defense textbooks.

"So, what're you doing out of the castle?" they heard come from behind them, and the two whirled around to see Molly Weasley. "I'm assuming this isn't a little joyride."

"Actually, my wand got broken," Daisy admitted, "We were here getting a new one so I figured I'd get ahead on my Potions reading since he's the Professor and would know what books I need. You?"

"That's none of your business," Molly snapped, and Snape glared at her. "What?"

"It's custom to oblige information when information is given to you," he said calmly, "I'm here because Albus ordered me to."

"Fine," Molly caved, "I'm here getting Percy a birthday present. But I'm not sure what book to get him."

"How about one on humility?" Daisy smirked and snickered quietly.

"I'm sorry what?" Molly asked as Snape smirked. She took an astonished step backwards before glancing between the two. "Did I miss something?"

"Nothing of importance," they said in unison with the same emotionless mask.

"Good luck with getting a new wand," she said warily as the two went to the register to pay for all the textbooks.

"Good luck finding that book," she called back, and snickered at her joke.

"She really should get one on humility for that boy," Snape said calmly, "Albus shouldn't have made him head boy, he's too serious and power-hungry."

"Oh, touché, pussycat," she muttered and he rapped her upside the head. "What? I didn't say nothing!"

"Double negative means you did, and I heard what you said," he scowled before nodding at the books. "Get your things and let's go."

"Wait, how am I supposed to get all these back to the castle?" she asked confused, and he rolled his eyes as he shrunk the books and held them out to her. "Oh, thank you. Wherever would I be without you?"

"Dead," he muttered, and she rapped him on the arm. "It's true, and you know it."

"Touché," she countered, and he glared at her. "You would be, you can't deny."

He remained silent as he held his arm out to apparate them, so she guessed she had a hollow victory just then.

* * *

I'm hoping I used the french right that time. My brother keeps telling me I'm not using it right. If I ever use that in the right context, could someone please tell me so I can fix it?

Please review, staying up late to update isn't worth it.


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